<T  J 


[The  original  is  in  possession  of  the  author.] 


THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN 


MISSOURI. 


BEING    A    HISTORY    OF 


THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY 


And  of  the  causes  which,  led  up  to  its 

organization,  and  how  it  earned 

the  thanks  of  Congress, 

which   it  got. 

TOGETHER 

With  a  birdseye  view  of  the  conditions 

in  lowra  preceding  the  great 

Civil  War  of  1861. 


BY 

E.   F.  WARE, 

A  private  soldier  in  Company  "E 
of  said  regiment. 


War  is  the  schooling  of  tJie  nations. 


MONOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BY 

CRANE   &   COMPANY, 

TOPEKA,    KANSAS, 


E5G7 

-5 


PEEFACE. 

In  the  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY  the  writer  of  this 
book  was  a  private  soldier.  He  desires  to  give  a 
history  of  the  Regiment,  and  feels  that  he  cannot  do 
so  in  a  proper  way  without  drawing  a  brief  picture 
of  the  conditions  that  preceded  the  great  conflict, 
so  that  the  reader  may  understand  what  was  done 
and  why  it  was  done.  The  story  of  the  great  war 
is  not  understandable  unless  one  knows  the  condi 
tions  of  society  at  the  time,  the  feelings  of  the  people, 
and  the  facts  which  preceded  the  first  enlistments. 

The  story  of  the  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY  is  typical. 
It  was  the  first  body  of  troops  which  the  State  sent 
out.  The  Regiment  came  up  to  expectation ;  it 
brought  glory  to  the  State ;  it  set  the  pace  to  all 
other  regiments  that  came  after  it,  and  be'came  a 
matter  of  State  pride.  It  was  a  three-months  reg 
iment,  which  served  and  fought  battles  after  the 
term  of  enlistment  had  expired.  Almost  all  of  the 
survivors  afterwards  enlisted  in  other  regiments. 
Most  became  officers  and  fought  through  the  war  or 
were  killed.  When  the  great  Civil  War  had  closed, 

not   many  were   left   of  the   FIRST   IOWA   INFANTRY, 

(iii) 

M126G64 


iv  PREFACE. 


and  at  the  regimental  reunions  which  came  after 
wards  but  few  were  in  attendance,  and  such  as  did 
attend  were  mostly  those  who  had  become  officers 
of  other  Iowa  regiments  subsequently  organized. 

The  writer  of  this  book  served  entirely  through  the 
war  in  Iowa  regiments,  and  he  cannot  write  the 
story  of  the  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY  without  going 
somewhat  into  details,  because  he  wishes  to  write  a 
true  history;  and  history  without  details  is  neither 
comprehensible  nor  philosophic. 


TABLE   OF   CONTEXTS. 


CHAP.  1.  Early  Iowa. — The  Mississippi  River. — Saint  Louis. — Rivers 
and  river  towns. — Politics  and  population. — The  Mexi 
can  War. — Abolitionists. — Slavery  discussion. — The  Ger 
mans. — -The  Irish. — Whisky. — Tobacco. — Money  and 
exchange 1 

CHAP.  2.  Pistols  and  game. — Schools. — Indians. — Free  negroes. — • 
Rifles  and  target-shooting. — Shooting  for  beef  and  tur 
keys. — Fishing  and  ferryboats. — The  river  pilots. — -The 
stage-drivers. — The  professional  gamblers. — Boots  and 
shoes. — Counterfeiters. — Gambling. — Stage-driving 12 

CHAP.  3.  The  churches.  —  Lecturers.  —  Horse-thieves. — Robbers. — 
Banditti  of  the  prairies. — Steamboat  robberies. — Pistols 
and  guns. — Indian  ponies. — -Home-made  clothes. — Boots. 
Hogs  and  bacon. — Fiddlers. — Pittsburg  coal  and  lumber. 
— Lamps  and  oil. —  Fire  engines  and  fights. — Panic  of 
1857. — Shinplasters. —  Fractional  currency 22 

CHAP.  4.  The  harness-maker. — The  workman. — The  discussions.— 
The  "mudsill." — Schools  and  education. — Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin. — Aunt  Phyllis' s  Cabin. — Attitude  of  church. — • 
Church  support  of  slavery. — Campaign  of  1856. — -The 
Wide- Awakes. — Douglas  and  Lincoln. — Lincoln's  speech. 
— Douglas's  speeches. — Douglas's  theories. — Popular  sov 
ereignty  •  •  •  31 

CHAP.  5.  Fremont's  defeat. — Troubles  in  Kansas. — Zouave  company 
organized. — Abolitionists. — Emancipation. — Negro-steal 
ing. — Boycott. — Attitude  of  church. — Underground  rail 
road. — United  States  marshals. — Attitude  of  lawyers.— 
Discussion  of  Constitution. — School  oratory. — A  Lincoln 
story 

CHAP.  6.  The  Drcd  Scott  Decision. — The  John  Brown  episode.— 
Negro  minstrelsy 

CHAP.     7.    Iowa  sovereignty. — Zouave  uniform. — Constant  drilling.— 
Swimming. — Campaign   of   1860. — The   Little    Giants. — 
Parades    and     fights.  —  Wide-Awakes. —  Lamp-posts.  — 
(v) 


i  1 


56 


TABLE  OF  COX  TEXTS. 


"Death  to  traitors." — The  armory. — The  "jour"  cigar- 
maker. — Fort  Sumter. — Zouaves  organized. — Tender  of 
services. — The  billiard  saloon. — On  the  roster. — Grand 
father. — Attitude  of  parents.- — Advice  of  mother. — The 
patriotic  sermon. — The  German  company. — The  Irish 
company. — Acceptance  of  company. —  Beginning  of  Com 
pany  "  E" 63 

CHAP.  8.  State  acceptance. — April  20th. — "Music  of  the  Union. "- 
The  girls. — -The  uniform. — The  embarkation. — The  ren 
dezvous. — Keokuk. — The  vacant  hotel. — The  saloon. — 
Our  muskets. — Regimental  camp. — Practice. — The  re 
coil. — The  silver  dimes. — Secession  sentiment. — Chick 
ens. — Corporal  Bill. — Balls. — Cotillions. — Dances 78 

CHAP.  9.  Keokuk. — Constant  drill. — The  officers. — The  cooks. — Sick 
men. — Poisoned  pies. — Hospital. — Spies. — Missouri  dis 
turbances. — Steamboat  and  flag. — Floyd's  nephew. — • 
Election  of  Colonel. — Lieutenant-Colonel. — Major. — Reg 
imental  officers. — Laundry. — -Muster-in. — May  14,  1861. 
— Personal  dissatisfaction. — Old  Mace. — "Chicken  Mess 
Xo.  1." 92 

CHAP.  10.  June  comes. — Rain. — Tobacco. — Poker. — Zouave  drill. — 
Douglas's  funeral. — Great  Bethel. — Striking  camp. — • 
Our  dog. — June  13th. — Trip  to  Hannibal. — Breakfast. — 
June  14th.  —  Macon.  —  Oratory.  —  O'Connor.  —  Guard 
House. — Cognac. — Blackberry  brandy. — French  Jo 101 

CHAP.  11.  Union  flag. — Macon. — Serenades. — Hucstis  and  Grimes. — • 
"Link." — The  flag-pole. — Bridge  guards. — General  Price. 
— June  18th. — Railroad-breaking. — 500  cavalry. — "  Go  it, 
Aunty." — Rcnick. — Newspaper. — Yancey  House. — Boon- 
ville  battle.— Little  Bawly.— June  20th.— Fayette.— The 
Missouri  river 115 

CHAP.  12.  June  21st. — Boots. — Lyon  and  Blair. — Our  steamboat. — 
Colonel  Bates  rebuked. — Fishing. — June  22(1. — Captain 
won't  resign. — Corporals  reduced. — June  23d. — Steam 
boats  on  the  Mississippi.  —  Fletch  Brandebury.  —  Bal 
lads. — June  24th. — Camping  011  fair-grounds. — The  can 
non. — Breaking  horses  and  mules. — Midnight  bray. — 
Warned  to  be  ready. — June  25th. — Wagons  and  wagon- 
mules. — The •  jerk-line. — Accidents. — The  colonel. — June 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


26th. — Ammunition. — Minie  bullet. — The  cartridge. — 
Cartridge-box. — Pay  for  State  service. — Clothing. — 
Stopping  the  bray. — Grimes  and  the  mule 127 

CHAP.  13.  June  27th. — Inspection  of  arms. — Brogans  and  socks. — 
Mess  assignments. — Revolvers. — Skirmish  drill. — Boon- 
ville  petition. — June  28th. — Disloyal  officers. — Captain 
under  ban. — Company  not  fooled. — Rain. — Tents  not 
good. — June  29th. — Inspection  of  ammunition. — Fatigue 
duty. — Boonville  exhibition  drills. — Captain  and  the 
hog. — Indignation  meetings. — What  the  field  officers 
said. — The  Captain  goes.— Lieutenant  takes  command. — 
June  30th. — Regimental  muster. — The  ration. — Wagon- 
train  deficient. — The  Yellowstone  steamboat. — The  pio 
neer  and  trapper. — The  soldier  of  1812 139 

CHAP.  14.  July  1,  1861. — Claib  Jackson  and  Stump  Price. — Boasting. 
— Bucked  and  gagged. — Regular  officers. — Trouble. — 
Want  to  fight  regulars. — "Ous  mid  your  guns." — Punish 
ment  . — Deserting. — Comet . — July  2d. — Camp  Jackson 
material. — The  32-pounder. — Jim  Lane. — List  of  troops. 
— Osterhaus. — Totten. — Clothing. — Order  of  companies. 
— No  favors. — Insufficient  train. — Ready  to  start 150 

CHAP.  15.  July  3d. — The  start. — The  ovation. — The  boys. — The  how 
itzer. — The  regulars. — The  "Happy  Land  of  Canaan." 
— Weight  of  baggage. — The  march. — Some  "nourish 
ment." —  July  4th. — Early  march. — Fatigue  duty. — The 
Missouri  mule. — Number  of  slaves. — The  cam]). — Mul 
berries. —  Supper. —  Sturgis. —  July  5th. —  Rain. —  Bad 
roads. — Tents  dumped. —  Rations  shortened. — "Lize"..  159 

CHAP.  16.  July  6th. — Out-march  regulars. — 23-mile  march. — Lyon 
disliked. — No  cavalry. — Beef  supply  short. — July  7th. — 
Old  Mace.— Distilleries. — White  mule.—  Vegetables.— - 
Rebel  depot. — Sun  hot. — Regulars  shed  knapsacks. — 
Reached  Grand  river. — Rebel  supply  depot. — Garden. — 
Sturgis's  command. — Pontoon  train. — Ferry-rope. — Cor 
duroying  road. — The  crossing. — The  fire-guard. — Last 
of  the  wamus 168 

CHAP.  17.  July  8th. — Grand  river. — Osage  river. — Wagons  lightened 
up. — Missouri  storekeeper. — Graybacks. — Seven  kinds  of 
insects. — Nostalgia. — Sturgis's  forces. — Kansas  officers. 


TABLE  OF  COX  TEXTS. 


— Jim  Lane's  speech. — July  9th. — March  to  Osage. — 
Game. — Log  cabins. — Dead  soldier. — Sunstrokes. — Osage 
river  reached. — July  10th. — The  crossing. — Deaths  and 
accidents. — Fire-guard  again. — Suicides. — The  "Jigger 
Boss" 179 

CHAP.  IS.  July  llth. — Wild  hogs. — De  Soto.- — Soap  in  shoes. — Ward 
robe. — Inventory  of  pockets. — Dead  soldier. — Wagons 
lightened. — All-night  march. — Lyon  at  the  fire. — July 
12th. — A  long  inarch. — Stockton. — Melville. — Gravelly. 
• — Raw  bacon. — Ragged  soldiers. — Union  sentiment. — 
Cabin  on  prairie. — "  Happy  Land  of  Canaan" 190 

CHAP.  19.  July  13th. — Short  food. — Free  fights. — Trousers  wrecked.— 
Headed  for  Springfield. — Corn  cure. — Chicken-hunting. 
— Hot  biscuit. — Dutch  ovens. — The  pants. — June  14th. — 
Little  York. — No  supplies. — Camp  Mush. — Murder.— 
Execution. — No  chaplain. — Sunday  busy  day. — Refitting 
trousers. — Union  sentiment. — -Weaving. — Coloring  but 
ternut. — New  trousers. — Belle  of  the  Mohawk  Vale. — 
General  Sturgis. — July  15th. — Mush  and  water. — Harness- 
making. — No  rations. — No  drill. — Regiment  neglected. — 
Cooking  corn-meal. — Bill  Huestis's  bugle-call. — Boot- 
heel  plug 201 

CHAP.  20.  July  16th. — Syestcr  and  I. — The  Old  Mill. — A  secesh  family. 
— Half-soling  shoes. — Inflammatory  rheumatism. — Lyon 
disliked. — Fault  with  Fremont. — July  17th. — Typhoid. 
— Blackberry  root. — Tribute  from  distillery. — Whisky 
and  blackberry. — Recovery. — July  18th. — Very  short  ra 
tions. — Growing  dissatisfaction. — McMullin's  story. — 
Loyalty  among  regulars  in  Texas. — General  Banks's  or 
der 213 

CHAP.  21.  July  19th. — Hard  storm. — Diary  saved. — Raw  dough. — 
Longing  for  discharge. — Ordered  to  Springfield. — Coffee 
and  corn -meal. — Burritt's  Astronomy. — My  constella 
tion. — The  stars. — Captain  Scho field. — Our  chaplain. — 
July  20th. —  Sponge-cake. —  Springfield. —  Rolla. —  The 
ridge  road. — Letters  and  newspapers. — Money  and  pur 
chases. — Soap. — March  to  James  river. — July  21st. — 
General  Sweeny. — New  sort  of  people. — Ozark. — Load 
of  whisky. — The  distribution. — Right  dress 224 


TABLE  OF  COX  TEXTS. 


IX 


CHAP.  22.  July  22d. — The  cards  sacrificed. — The  forests. — Chert. — 
The  Ozark  Mountains.— Wheat. — The  loom.— The  proph 
ecy. — Double-quick  three  miles. — 29-mile  march. — Shell 
into  court-house. — Capture  of  Forsyth. — -On  guard. — 
Refugees. — Atrocities. — Union  sentiment. — Union  ter 
ritory. — Stone  county. — July  23d. — The  Chaplain. — The 
bandanas. — Jaynes's  Carminative  Balsam. —  Prisoners. — 
Prison-pen. — Parol .235 

CHAP.  23.  July  24th. — Return  to  Springfield.— Order  of  march. — Rebel 
cavalry. — Shoes  and  moccasins. — Beautiful  country. — 
The  forests  and  streams. — Roasting-ears. — Scientific 
corn-cooking. — July  25th. — Return  to  "  Jeems's  Fork."- 
Hot  weather. — Arrive  at  Springfield. — Mail  and  money. 
— Bull  Run. — General  Scott. — Fuss  and  feathers. — Fre 
mont. — Benton.— Fight  or  discharge. — Soda-water,  pie, 
and  candy. — Dress-parade. — Lyon's  general  order.— 
Brigade  organization. — Schofield's  published  letter. — 
Corpular  Mace 

CHAP.  24.  July  26th. — Butter  and  sausage. — Little  York. — Lake 
Spring. — Putrid  beef. — The  protest. — The  Lieutenant's 
address. — Economizing  on  poker. — Polishing  gun. — 
Picket-firing. — July  27th. — Cavalry  active. — Spies  and 
artillery. — Commissary  stores  give  out. — Schofield's  let 
ter. — Lyon's  letter. — John  S.  Phelps. — The  hegira. — The 
wagon-train. — Letter  per  Phelps. — Needs  of  the  occa 
sion. — Wheat  and  mills. — Lyon  worried. — July  28th. — • 
Mush  and  coffee. — Whisky. — Mace's  story  about  Col. 
Clay. — Mace  grows  nervous. — Camp  McClellan. — Camp 
Mush  No.  2 -  253 

CHAP.  25.  July  29th. — Dade  county  demonstration. — Picket  duty. — • 
The  Huddleston  girls. — July  30th. — A  sorry  breakfast. — 
Company  quarrels. — Fresh  beef. — Corporal  Churubusco 
tells  story. — The  Mexican  War. — Champagne. — Brevets. 
— July  31st. — Blackberry  root. — Our  Lieutenant. — Beef 
and  wheat. — Assembly  at  1  A.  M. — Night  inspection. - 
August  1st. — Coffee,  beef  and  bread. — Guthrie  and  the 
mule. — "Lize."- — Ordered  to  march. — Going  south. — No 
orders  to  halt. — Sleeping  among  the  flints. — The  "wire 
road"..  262 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  26.  August  2d. — Up  early. — Line  of  battle  formed.— The  Rebel  ' 
divisions. —  McCullough. —  Rains. —  Pearce.  —  Steele. — 
Hunting  McCullough. — Deploying  as  skirmishers. — The 
rally. — The  cavalry  charge. — The  saber  drip. — Changing 
positions. — Trying  to  find  the  enemy. — Totten. — Went 
into  camp. — A  picket-post. — August  3d. — Line  of  battle. 
— "Reaching  for  land  warrant." — Woman  and  her  chil 
dren. — Forward  movement. — The  store  and  camp. — The 
supplies. — The  buttermilk. — The  charge. — Jarvis  Bar 
ker's  Company. — Paddy  Miles. — Boot-heel. — The  well. — 
Bake-oven. — Bogus  camp-fires 272 

CHAP.  27.  August  4th. — Loss  of  the  bake-oven. — The  return.— Intense 
heat. — Killed  and  wounded. — Captured. — Dug  Springs. 
• — McCulla's  store. — Disappointment. — Lyon's  letter. — 
Rains's  report. — Macintosh's  report. — Price's  report. — 
The  return  to  Springfield. — Xight  firing. — August  5th. — 
The  march. — The  cracker-barrel. — The  dust. — Contro 
versy  with  Lyon. — The  new  market. — Watch  trade. — 
"Orphan." — August  6th. — Camp  near  Phelps. — New 
pants. — Term  of  service. — Lyon  cross  and  petulant. — 
Refugees. — Caravan  to  Rolla 286 

CHAP.  28.  August  7th. — Change  of  camp. — Mrs.  Phelps. — Made  Cor 
poral. — On  picket. — Capture  a  spy.— August  8th.— Boil 
ing  clothes. — Chiggers. — Wood-ticks. — Treatment  for  in 
sects. — Supply  train. — Three  armies. — Wilson  Creek. — 
Shoes  and  love-letters. — Plan  of  retreat. — Lyon's  speech. 
—The  enemy's  camp-fires. — August  9th. — Fight  for  water. 
— Gift  of  tobacco. — On  eve  of  battle. — Picket-fighting. — 
Our  regimental  officers. — The  Colonel. — The  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.— The  Major.— Our  First  Lieutenant.— Jo  Utter .  .  298 

CHAP.  29.  Orders  to  fall  in. — Lyon's  speech  on  August  9th. — Getting 
scared. — Bill  Huestis's  theory. — Sweeney's  speech. — Ly 
on's  style. — Ammunition. — The  bread  loaf. — A  day's  ra 
tions. — Horse-thief  hat. — A  picture. — The  march. — The 
morning. — August  10th. — The  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek.— 
The  Pelican  Rangers 310 

CHAP.  30.  Author's  review  of  battle. — Our  officers. — Official  reports. — 
Scho field. — Sturgis. — Totten. — Lyon  killed  leading  First 
Iowa. — The  Pelicans. — The  reunion  story. — Confederate 


TABLE  OF  COX  TEXTS.  XI 

PAGE 

quarrels. — Criticism  of  Sigel. — Poor  Confederate  general 
ship. — Captain  Mason. — Private  Norman. — Discussion  of 

Lyon.— The  "  mudsill." 328 

CHAP.  31.  Sunset. — Arrived  in  Springfield.— Everything  hurly-burly. 
— Train  sent  to  Rolla. — August  llth. — Paddy  Miles's  boy. 
— Shoulder  painful. — Mace  and  "Lize"  turn  up. — Mace's 
best  "holt." — Two  roads  to  Rolla. — Valley  road  blocked. 
— Marched  32  miles. — August  12th. — Sturgis  takes  com 
mand. — Rear  guard. — August  20th. — Arrived  in  St. 
Louis. — Earthworks. — Camped  in  arsenal. — August  21st. 
— Arsenal. — State  uniforms. — German  hospitality. — Fre 
mont's  order. — Paid  off. — Provost  Marshal. — Published 
departure. — Reception  at  home. — Thanks  of  Congress.  .  341 

APPENDIX  A •    355 

APPENDIX  B  .  .          357 


THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


CHAPTER  1. 

Early  Iowa. — The  Mississippi  River. — Saint  Louis. — Rivers  and  River 
Towns. — Politics  and  Population. — The  Mexican  War. — Abolitionists. 
— Slavery  Discussion. — The  Germans. — The  Irish. — Whisky. — Tobacco. 
— Money  and  Exchange. 

An  Opening  Statement  may  be  pardoned  here,  because  it  is 
pertinent  and  illustrates  what  will  follow.  My  grandfather, 
born  in  Massachusetts,  moved  to  Maine  when  it  was  part  of 
Massachusetts ;  and  my  father  was  born  there.  My  grandfather 
was  a  merchant  cooper,  and  engaged  in  making  barrels  whole 
sale  for  the  West  India  trade.  My  father  moved  to  Connec 
ticut  at  an  early  day.  My  mother  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
and  was  married  in  Hartford,  where  I  was  born. 

While  Iowa  was  a  Territory  my  father  and  mother  moved 
there  to  one  of  the  busy  cities  on  the  Mississippi  River.  I 
was  a  young  lad,  but  I  remember  many  incidents  of  the  trip. 
I  remember  traveling  on  the  stage-coaches,  the  steamboats  and 
the  canal-boats.  I  well  remember  how  finely  upholstered  and 
fixed  up  the  canal  passenger-boats  were,  and  how  the  horses 
on  the  towline  were  whipped  up,  and  how  the  dancing  on  the 
deck  prolonged  itself  late  at  night,  while  the  fiddler  chewed  to- 

(i) 


LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


bacco  and  looked  into  the  canal.     I  did  not  see  a  railroad  until 
several  years  after. 

The  River  Towns  of  Iowa  were  kept  busy  by  the  steamboats. 
Some  of  the  amusements  were  furnished  by  floating  circuses 
and  theaters  towed  up  and  down  by  the  steamboats.  Barges 
and  flatboats  borne  by  the  current  were  continually  descending 
the  river  with  extra  men  who  were  going  on  cheap  passages  to 
St.  Louis  or  New  Orleans.  Those  who  had  been  to  New  Orleans 
had  great  stories  to  tell  of  adventures  going  and  coming.  St. 
Louis  was  the  great  metropolis.  It  did  the  business  for  the  river 
points  above.  Merchandise  upstream  was  carried  on  steam 
boats.  Every  wholesale  house  in  St.  Louis  was  also  an  insurance 
company.  To  every  bill  of  goods  was  attached  an  item  for  dray- 
age  and  an  item  for  insurance.  Different  merchants  had  dif 
ferent  rates  of  insurance  upon  goods  which  they  sold  and  shipped. 
It  was  one  of  the  matters  of  bargain  in  buying  goods.  If  the 
goods  were  lost  in  transit,  the  merchant  duplicated  the  bill. 
The  river  towns  seemed  to  be  settled  up  by  people  from  along 
other  rivers.  The  style  of  up-river  architecture  was  derived 
from  St.  Louis.  There  was  a  strange  and  quaint  style  of  build 
ing  and  roofing,  but  it  had  disappeared  entirely  before  1850. 
The  boys  who  were  my  playmates  would  talk  about  the  Sciota 
River,  the  Muskingum,  the  Alleghany,  the  Big  Sandy,  the  Cum 
berland,  and  the  Tennessee.  It  seemed  as  if  every  boy  had 
lived  on  a  river;  they  were  all  loyal  to  their  rivers,  and  the  boys 
would  fight  over  the  question  whether  or  not  the  Alleghany  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


bigger  than  the  Muskingum ;  and  over  the  size  of  the  boats  that 
could  go  up  either. 

The  city  where  my  father  settled  in  Iowa  was,  in  politics,  Dem 
ocratic.  Whigs  were  few  and  their  influence  waning.  The  State 
gave  Democratic  majorities.  My  first  recollection  of  political 
discussion  was  upon  the  right  and  wrong  of  the  war  with  Mexico. 
Our  preacher  said  the  Mexican  war  was  wrong,  and  that  it  was 
provoked  by  the  South  for  the  purpose  of  getting  additional 
slave  territory.  Others  were  strong  in  their  denunciations  of 
the  attitude  of  our  government  against  Mexico.  When  the  re 
turned  soldiers  talked  about  Buena  Vista  and  Chapultepec,  there 
were  those  who  would  say  that  the  United  States  forces  ought 
to  have  been  whipped. 

My  father  used  to  say  that  when  he  was  a  sailor  on  the  Pacific 
they  once  sailed  into  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  an  English 
sailor  looking  over  the  bay  said  :  "  In  this  magnificent  bay  some 
time  there  will  be  more  ships  than  in  any  harbor  in  the  world.1' 
So  my  father  rejoiced  that  the  Mexican  war  had  ended  with  as 
little  bloodshed  and  as  great  an  accumulation  of  territory  as  it 
did,  especially  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  but  he  was  very  strongly  op 
posed  to  slavery.  The  boys  played  the  "  Battle  of  Buena  Vista," 
and  the  fights  which  were  constantly  taking  place  among  the  boys 
had  some  supposed  reference  to  and  representation  of  the  Mex 
ican  war.  Fighting  was  so  common  and  continuous  among  the 
boys  that  parents  took  no  notice  of  it. 

The  sugar  of  that  day  was  a  brown  sugar  that  came  up  in 
steamboats  from  Louisiana  in  hogsheads.  It  was  rolled  ashore 


THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


upon  the  wharf  and  was  emptied  out  of  the  hogsheads  there,  by 
shovels,  into  barrels  which  were  weighed  and  marked  and  placed 
in  warehouses,  the  hogsheads  being  too  large  for  convenient 
handling.  In  these  hogsheads  were  short  stalks  of  sugar-cane 
among  the  sugar,  and  the  boys  who  were  always  playing  on  the 
wharf,  catching  fish  and  swimming,  ate  the  refuse  sugar  scraped 
from  the  sides  of  these  hogsheads  and  fought  each  other  with 
the  stalks  of  cane.  I  remember  upon  one  of  these  occasions  get 
ting  into  a  fight  and  being  called  an  "Abolitionist"  and  being 
pounded  up  pretty  well  with  some  stalks  of  cane.  I  went  to 
my  father  and  asked  him  what  an  "Abolitionist"  was,  and  was 
duly  informed. 

The  discussion  concerning  slave  territory  and  slavery  grew 
more  and  more  rabid.  I  well  remember  in  1850,  when  nine 
years  of  age,  a  number  of  very  heated  discussions  on  the  slavery 
question  growing  out  of  "Compromise"  legislation  in  Congress. 
My  father  had  taken  and  always  did  take,  during  the  life  of 
Horace  Greeley,  the  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  arid  it  was  the 
political  Bible  of  our  house.  This  was  supplemented  by  the  In 
dependent,  a  religious  newspaper  of  the  same  type.  My  father 
used  to  take  me  around  with  him,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  he 
was  constantly  engaged  in  the  discussion  of  the  slavery  question, 
and  somebody  either  on  one  side  or  the  other  was  talking  about 
the  United  States  Constitution.  Both  sides  seemed  to  think 
that  the  constitution  was  in  very  great  peril. 

My  Old  Grandfather  had  in  the  meantime  moved  from  Maine 
to  Iowa.  He  had  seen  military  service  during  his  younger  days, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


and  he  was  greatly  perturbed  at  the  condition  of  things.  He 
used  to  say  that  the  country  could  not  hold  together  much 
longer.  My  grandmother,  who  came  West  with  him,  was  a  great 
reader  of  the  Bible.  She  never  cared  to  read  anything  else  but 
it  and  the  Weekly  New  York  Independent,  and  she  was  constantly 
finding  passages  in  Holy  Writ  which  indicated  that  there  was 
to  be  a  great  war  and  that  the  country  was  to  be  divided  and 
never  come  together  again,  like  the  tribes  of  Israel.  The  good 
old  lady  died  before  the  opening  of  the  war. 

I  well  remember  traveling  on  a  passenger  canal-boat  in  Illi 
nois,  and  how  the  passengers,  siding  up  on  the  canal-boat,  upon 
the  slavery  question,  had  a  joint  debate.  The  progress  of  the 
canal-boat  through  the  water  was  so  silent  that  a  joint  debate 
was  easily  carried  on,  and  it  was  carried  on  all  day,  and  at  night 
my  father  quarreled  with  a  man  for  two  hours  more  on  the  slav 
ery  question. 

Two  military  companies  existed  in  our  town,  one  composed 
of  Germans  and  the  other  of  Irish.  They  were  both  fiercely  pug 
nacious, — the  Germans  having  a  little  more  fight  than  the  other. 
The  Germans  talked  about  the  Revolution  of  1848  in  Germany; 
they  were  mostly  military  refugees.  They  had  festivals  and 
balls  and  literary  exercises,  which,  as  I  now  remember,  would 
have  done  credit  to  an  Eastern  city  instead  of  a  frontier  town. 
There  were  men  among  them  who  were  called  Colonels  and  Ma 
jors,  perhaps  from  the  rank  which  they  had  occupied  in  the  Ger 
man  insurrection.  They  were,  as  a  rule,  a  very  high-grade  class 
of  citizens,  although  essentially  German,  and  apparently  very 


6  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


desirous  of  retaining  their  language,  usages  and  customs.  The 
Irish,  on  the  other  hand,  were  coarser.  They  did  not  plant  vine 
yards  and  have  literary  exercises.  They  were  boisterous,  and 
yet  among  them  were  some  very  notable  people.  I  remember 
one  who  wore  the  Victorian  cross  for  bravery  in  battle  in  India, 
and  he  said  the  cross  was  pinned  on  him  by  the  Queen  herself, 
which  I  have  no  doubt  was  the  fact.  He  seemed  to  be  the  lead 
ing  spirit  among  the  Irish.  So  that  when  there  were  festive 
occasions  and  these  two  military  companies  paraded,  they  pa 
raded  separately,  and  when  the  thing  was  over  and  military 
discipline  at  an  end,  there  was  liable  to  be  a  fight,  and  generally 
a  fight  that  was  stubborn.  The  Germans  had  their  Turner  halls 
and  Turner  exercises,  and  they  were  all  athletes.  They  used  to 
have  gardens  where  they  had  speaking  and  where  they  drank 
native  wine  and  beer.  It  was  about  all  that  a  man's  life  was 
worth  to  disturb  one  of  these  occasions.  I  remember  one  time, 
in  an  ill-advised  moment,  that  I  joined  as  a  boy  a  party  of  Irish 
yeomanry  who  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  go  down  and 
break  up  the  exercises.  After  having  been  thrown  over  a  high- 
board  fence,  I  was  never  guilty  again  of  such  an  indiscretion. 

Whisky  in  those  days  was  exceedingly  common.  It  was  man 
ufactured  at  many  places  and  occupied  the  same  relation  to 
other  business  that  the  manufacture  of  cider  does  now,  and  the 
then  price  of  whisky  coincided  with  the  present  price  of  cider. 
Some  large  stores  kept  it  free  for  their  customers.  I  remember 
a  large  retail  store  in  which  they  kept  a  barrel  of  it  with  a  mov 
able  head  and  a  tin  cup  hanging  from  a  chain.  People  went  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


there  and  would  dip  up  a  cupful  and  drink  it  and  go  on  talking 
the  same  as  if  it  were  lemonade. 

New  whisky  which  was  clear  like  water  sold  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
cents  a  gallon.  It  was  found,  as  near  as  I  can  now  remember, 
about  everywhere.  But  there  had  grown  up  against  it  consid 
erable  sentiment  in  favor  of  restricting  its  use,  and  I  remember 
temperance  meetings,  but  there  were  few  restrictions  possible. 
Everybody  could  make  it;  everybody  could  get  it,  and  every 
body  could  drink  it.  Beer  came  in  much  later,  and  its  use  was 
very  much  limited  at  first.  Beer  did  not  seem  to  suit  public 
taste.  In  those  days  the  great  moral  reform  crusade  was  against 
gambling;— intemperance  was  secondary. 

Nearly  everybody  used  tobacco.  As  I  now  judge,  it  appears 
to  me  that  nine  men  out  of  every  ten  chewed  tobacco.  Cigars 
were  long  and  coarsely  made.  There  was  no  tax;  not  much 
skill  in  the  manufacture,  and  good  cigars,  as  taste  then  ran, 
could  be  had  for  a  cent  apiece.  The  only  man  who  did  not  use 
tobacco  that  I  can  recollect,  was  our  Congregational  preacher. 

The  Money  of  the  Country  was  in  private  banks.  The  bank 
ing  business  was  profitable  because  there  was  so  much  made  in 
" exchange."  It  was  very  difficult  to  convey  money  from  West 
of  the  Mississippi  to  New  York  or  Boston.  My  father  was  en 
gaged  in  business,  and  when  his  trading-point  changed  from  St. 
Louis  to  Boston,  it  was  very  difficult  for  him  to  get  the  right 
kind  of  money  to  take  to  .Boston.  Different  kinds  of  money 
were  subject  to  different  kinds  of  discount.  There  were  perhaps 
five  hundred  banks  that  emitted  currency,  and  the  money  was 


8  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

worth  from  ton  cents  a  dollar  to  par,  and  the  skill  of  the  banker 
consisted  in  his  being  able,  first,  to  tell  a  "counterfeit,"  which 
was  about  as  common  as  the  genuine  money;  and,  second,  to 
tell  what,  upon  any  particular  day,  the  currency  of  any  certain 
bank  was  worth.  So,  in  buying  a  bill  of  goods,  if  the  purchaser 
handed  my  father  a  bill  which  he  was  not  familiar  with,  he  im 
mediately  sent  out  and  asked  the  bank  what  it  was  worth,  and 
if  the  bank  said  it  was  worth  eighty-five  cents  on  the  dollar,  it 
went  at  that  figure,  and  every  week  my  father  received  a  printed 
folio  publication,  a  large  one,  called  "The  Counterfeit  Detector," 
in  which  the  salient  points  of  each  counterfeit  upon  each  kind 
of  bill  issued  by  each  bank  was  set  forth.  It  was  a  voluminous 
magazine.  An  inquest  was  hourly  held  in  every  store  over  some 
bill,  with  a  magnifying-glass,  and  the  various  persons  present, 
after  reading  "The  Counterfeit  Detector,"  would  pass  judgment 
on  the  bill.  My  father  lost  considerable  money  from  time  to 
time  in  the  value  of  money  depreciating  overnight,  so  it  was  his 
wont  to  deposit  every  dollar  he  had  in  some  bank  overnight; 
and  the  bank  book  had  a  double  column;  one  column  for 
"specie"  and  one  for  "currency."  The  depositor  had  the  right 
to  get  out  of  the  bank  as  much  specie  as  he  had  put  into  it  and 
no  more.  American  silver  was  quite  scarce  and  Mexican  dol 
lars  were  a  very  common  currency.  The  Mexican  dollar  was 
cut  up  into  eight  pieces  with  chisels  and  these  pieces  were  called 
"bits."  This  was  a  portion  of  the  subsidiary  coinage.  A  Mex 
ican  half-dollar  was  cut  into  four  and  a  Mexican  quarter-dollar 
was  cut  into  two,  Bo  that  everything  went  by  dollars  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY. 


"bits,"  and  four  bits  and  six  bits  were  much  easier  expressions 
than  fifty  cents  and  seventy-five  cents.  I  remember  in  my  boy 
hood  to  have  seen  many  of  these  bits:  but  the  United  States 
endeavored  to  supply  the  people  with  fractional  coinage1,  and 
finally  succeeded.  Afterwards  the  habit  of  using  "bits"  in 
matters  of  price  remained  in  expression,  and  probably  will  for 
many  years  to  come.  There  used  to  be  people  pointed  out  of 
whom  it  was  said  that  they  had  cut  a  dollar  up  into  nine  bits, 
instead  of  eight. 

My  father  at  one  time,  returning  from  an  absence,  brought 
back  a  box  of  five-franc  pieces,  about  forty  pounds  avoirdupois. 
They  all  went  in  with  the  Mexican  dollars  as  dollars,  but  they 
cost  in  New  Orleans  only  ninety-five  cents  each.  All  hoarding- 
was  done  with  silver  or  with  gold,  but  gold  in  business  was  scarce. 
I  saw  but  very  little  of  it  before  the  war.  It  was  impossible  to 
hoard  any  of  the  paper  currency.  It  was  unwise  to  keep  it  over 
night.  Each  State  seemed  to  have  its  favorite  currency.  If 
a  person  was  traveling  in  Illinois  he  inquired  as  to  the  favorite 
currency  of  Illinois,  and  took  "Illinois  money."  If  he  went  to 
St.  Louis  he  took  "Missouri  money,"  if  he  could  get  it ;  and  the 
banks  kept  their  clerks  sorting  out  money  all  the  time,  either 
running  the  banks  together  of  a  State,  or  the  money  of  a  certain 
bank  together.  The  teller  who  took  in  the  money  at  a  bank 
did  not  have  as  much  work  as  the  assistants,  who  were  constantly 
sorting  money,  and  if  a  person  was  going  to  travel,  he  would  go 
to  the  bank  and  get  the  money  of  the  State  he  was  to  visit,  and 
the  bank  would  charge  him  "exchange."  I  remember  when  my 


10  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


father  was  going  East  once,  he  went  to  the  bank  to  know  what 
he  could  get  Massachusetts  money  for,  or  a  draft  on  Massa 
chusetts,  and  they  told  him  twenty-five  per  cent.  My  father 
said  that  he  would  not  pay  one-fourth  of  the  money  to  have  it 
taken  there. 

Banks  were  constantly  being  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
unloading  onto  a  community  the  money  which  the  bank  would 
invent;  and  I  remember  it  stated  when  I  was  a  boy  that  an 
Iowa  man  of  our  town  had  got  up  a  bank  in  North  Carolina, 
and,  together  with  one  in  which  he  was  interested  in  Iowa,  they 
sent  their  money  respectively  from  one  bank  to  the  other  for 
circulation,  so  that  the  Iowa  money  was  circulated  in  North 
Carolina,  and  the  North  Carolina  money  was  circulated  in  Iowa. 
Nevertheless,  there  were  some  banks  and  some  bankers  who  as 
pired  to  great  credit,  and  who  kept  their  paper  good  and  who 
pretended  always  to  redeem  in  Mexican  dollars,  throwing  in 
occasionally  American  gold,  and  who  arranged  to  have  their 
notes,  when  presented,  paid  by  banks  in  St.  Louis  or  Cincin 
nati,  that  is  to  say,  redeemed  in  the  currency  of  those  banks, 
but  not  in  specie.  A  bank  that  issued  money  that  a  person 
could  take  to  St.  Louis  and  put  in  a  bank  there,  and  get  out 
the  bills  of  the  St.  Louis  bank,  had  established  a  great  credit. 
This  condition  of  things  continued  up  until  the  Civil  War.  The 
following  is  from  the  Burlington  Hawk-Eye  as  late  as  May  8, 
1861: 

"  Persons  remitting  money  to  us  will  save  themselves  and  us 
trouble  by  sending  no  Wisconsin  money.  We  can't  sell  it  at 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  11 


any  price.  This  is  also  true  of  the  discredited  Illinois  currency. 
We  can  use  no  Illinois  currency  except  of  banks  printed  in  the 
list  at  the  head  of  this  paper,  and  we  only  bind  ourselves  to  take 
it  if  we  can  use  the  money  when  it  reaches  here.  We  cannot 
be  responsible  for  breakage  on  the  way." 

The  list  referred  to  is  of  34  banks  in  various  parts  of  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  2. 

Pistols  and  Game. — Schools. — Indians. — -Free  Negroes. — Rifles  and  Tar 
get-Shooting. — Shooting  for  Beef  and  Turkeys. — Fishing  and  Ferry- 
Boats. — The  River  Pilots. — The  Stage-Drivers. — The  Professional  Gam 
blers. — Boots  and  Shoes. — Counterfeiters. — Gambling. — Stage-Driving. 

The  Emigration  Prior  to  1856  was  constant  and  strong. 
People  were  coining  on  every  steamboat  and  in  multitudes  of 
covered  wagons.  It  seemed  to  me,  as  I  now  remember,  that 
the  settlements  were  made  up  of  about  one-half  Americans  and 
one-half  foreigners. 

Some  few  people  went  armed,  but  in  those  days  the  pistol 
was  somewhat  harmless,  and  mercifully  spared  its  victim.  The 
only  pistol  of  that  day  that  would  do  much  good  was  what  was 
called  a  "dueling  pistol";  I  well  remember  Virginia  farmers 
and  Kentucky  farmers,  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood,  had 
dueling  pistols,  two  in  a  box.  Some  of  the  country  boys  used 
to  steal  out  those  dueling  pistols  and  go  a  squirrel-hunting 
with  me  from  time  to  time.  The  squirrels  in  those  days  in  the 
forests  were  very  numerous;  turkeys,  deer,  coons  and  possums 
could  always  be  had,  and  now  and  then  a  bear.  Ducks  and 
geese  in  spring  and  fall  were  seen  in  myriads;  blackbirds  and 
pigeons  at  times  filled  the  sky  and  blackened  the  air,  and  there 
was  no  boy  who  could  not  go  out  any  day  and  catch  his  weight 
in  fish.  Sport  was  one  of  the  habits  of  the  people.  The  boys 
went  on  camp-hunts,  and  although  mere  boys,  they  would  take 

(12) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  13 


along  forty  cents'  worth  of  whisky  and  ten  cents'  worth  of  to 
bacco,  which,  as  prices  then  ran,  was  enough  for  the  whole  party 
for  the  whole  trip.  The  farmers — and  there  were  many  who 
were  wealthy,  or  at  least  aspired  to  a  sort  of  baronial  way  of 
living — had  many  dogs,  and  fox-hunting  was  very  common. 
To  start  on  some  moonlight  evening  after  supper  on  a  fox-hunt 
and  chase  foxes  all  night  was  the  way-up  thing  to  do.  A  bon 
fire  in  the  morning  at  which  some  coffee  was  made,  and  the  hunt 
declared  off  and  the  whole  event  discussed,  was  the  end  of  the 
occasion. 

Schools  were  not  much  organized.  I  made  considerable  prog 
ress  in  a  log  school-house  in  which  T  wa^  taught  by  a  j'oung  lady 
who  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  a  man  who  became  a  million 
aire,  arid  who  used  to  speak  affectionately  of  her  teaching  ex 
perience.  .  I  remember  a  little  blue-eyed  girl  in  that  log  cabin 
who  musingly  asked  why  she  could  not  go  and  play  in  the 
water  with  the  boys.  It  was  the  Mississippi.  She  is  now  ed 
ucating  her  grandchildren  in  Paris.  From  that  log  school-house 
there  have  come  several  millionaires,  and  other  men  well  known 
in  the  United  States.  The  studies  were  few,  but  it  seemed  as 
if  the  principal  theory  of  teaching  then,  in  the  log  school-houses, 
was  to  educate  the  memory.  I  have  often  since  thought  that 
the  teaching  of  those  days  did  much  more  good  than  it  does 
now,  because,  after  all,  memory  is  about  the  most  necessary 
faculty  to  be  improved.  The  person  who  can  remember  ten 
per  cent,  more  than  another  of  what  happens  every  year  will 
in  ten  years  have  gained  a  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  the 


14  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

other  and  be  much  better  equipped.     Concerning  the  higher 
and  later  schools  I  will  speak  hereinafter. 

The  Indians  were  constantly  on  exhibition  in  the  streets, 
coming  and  going,  trading  moccasins  and  various  ornamental 
work  in  the  stores  for  something  to  cat  or  drink.  One  could 
always  find  Indians  somewhere  on  the  streets,  and  they  seemed 
to  conduct  themselves  fairly  well.  I  remember  to  have  seen 
several  of  them  drunk,  and  seen  the  excitement  on  the  street 
caused  by  their  arrest  and  confinement.  There  were  many  half- 
Indian  and  half-white  children  playing  in  the  streets,  talking 
both  Indian  and  English  and  seeming  to  enjoy  life  as  much  as 
any  other  children.  There  were  very  few  colored  people,  and 
they  consisted  generally  of  slaves  who  had  been  manumitted 
by  their  masters,  after  being  brought  to  Iowa.  A  black  person 
was  obliged  to  have  some  protector.  It  was  a  constant  occur 
rence  that  they  were  kidnapped  and  carried  South  and  sold  back 
into  slavery,  where  they  could  not  extricate  themselves.  They 
were  not  allowed  in  slavery  to  read  or  write  or  send  off  letters, 
and  hence  slave-stealing  was  a  profession;  so  it  was  that  a 
colored  person  was  obliged  to  have  a  white  person  as  a  guardian 
and  was  obliged  to  stay  close  at  home.  Every  once  in  a  while 
there  was  something  very  gallant  about  some  of  those  old  slave 
owners.  They  had  moved  from  slave  territory  and  had  brought 
their  slaves  with  them  and  freed  them.  One  of  these  men 
would  be  on  the  street  and  somebody  would  start  a  quarrel 
with  this  man's  "nigger,"  and  then  trouble  would  begin  of  the 
very  worst  description.  The  man  would  fight  for  his  "nigger" 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  15 

the  same  as  he  would  for  his  dog  or  his  baby,  and  when  a  person 
abused  a  " nigger"  of  one  of  these  men,  that  person  had  a  fight 
on  his  hands,  sure. 

I  remember  of  Cassius  M.  Clay  coming  to  our  town  and  making 
a  violent  and  vindictive  speech  against  slavery.  He  held  in  his 
hand  half  a  lemon  which  he  occasionally  bit,  and  then  he  would 
lapse  off  in  perorations  that  would  make  the  crowd  howl  and  yell. 
I  remember  in  this  speech  of  hearing  the  first  alliterative  expres 
sion  about  "ballots  and  bullets."  All  that  I  can  remember  of 
his  speech  is  that  he  said  slavery  was  a  curse  to  his  State  of  Ken 
tucky,  because,  he  said,  every  black  man  that  came  in  kept  a 
white  man  out. 

The  Amusements  of  that  Day  were  generally  out  of  doors. 
In  addition  to  what  I  have  described,  there  was  on  all  occasions 
and  upon  all  holidays  competitive  rifle-shooting.  The  country 
was  full  of  the  old  pioneers,  and  the  rifle  of  those  days  was  a 
home-made  weapon  practically.  Every  town  had  a  man  who 
was  considered  the  best  man  in  the  country  to  make  a  good  rifle. 
I  have  watched  rifles  made  by  hand  a  great  many  times.  Every 
body  seemed  to  have  his  favorite  style,  and  a  person  was  meas 
ured  for  a  gun  the  same  as  he  would  be  now  for  a  suit  of  clothes. 
The  rifle  was  made  in  length,  size  and  weight  proportionate  to 
the  strength  and  height  of  the  individual;  so  some  one  person 
would  want  a  rifle1  with  a  three-and-a-half-foot  barrel  to  weigh 
nine  pounds,  and  to  shoot  a  ball  say  fourteen  to  the  pound, 
and  to  have  so  many  revolutions  in  the  twist,  and  lie  ordered 
his  gun  so  made,  the  same  as  now  a  person  would  order  an  over- 


16  THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 

coat  made,  with  precise  description.  Every  marksman  seemed 
to  have1  his  own  ideas  as  to  the  length  of  barrel,  twist,  and  weight 
of  bullet.  The  bullets  went  by  the  pound.  One  person  would 
say,  "I  would  not  have  a  gun  that  did  not  shoot  a  bullet  forty 
to  the  pound,"  while  others  agreed  upon  sixty  or  some  other 
number,  and  when  a  person  showed  his  favorite  gun  the  first 
question  was,  "How  many  does  it  run  to  the  pound?"  or  in 
briefer  terms,  "What  does  she  run?"  I  remember  on  one  oc 
casion  an  old  gentleman  borrowing  a  chew  of  tobacco ;  the  per 
son  from  whom  it  was  borrowed  expressed  a  good  deal  of  sur 
prise  at  the  size  of  the  chew  which  was  bitten  off:  the  man  apolo 
getically  observed,  "My  mouth  runs  four  chews  to  the  pound." 
The  Germans  were,  of  all  foreigners,  the  ones  who  seemed 
most  devoted  to  shooting,  and  they  had  their  target  societies 
that  would  compete  in  shooting  against  the  hunters  and  trappers 
and  pioneers ;  so  that  shooting  for  beef  and  shooting  for  turkeys 
was  constantly  going  on,  and  every  person  shot  with  his  own 
gun.  "Shooting  for  beef"  was  simply  that  some  person  would 
kill  a  fat  animal  and  put  up  the  quarters,  to  be  shot  for,  at  say 
ten  cents  a  shot,  more  or  less;  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
yards,  more  or  less.  The  person  making  the  best  "string"  to 
get  the  quarter  of  beef.  If  a  person  took  a  dollar's  worth- of 
shots,  ten  shots  at  ten  cents  a  shot,  and  shot  at  the  target,  they 
measured  the  distance  of  each  bullet-hole  from  the  center  of 
the  target,  and  if  the  ten  shots  aggregated  a  distance  of,  say, 
ten  inches,  that  was  his  "string."  The  person  who  made  the 
shortest  "string"  got  the  beef,  and  it  was  always  a  matter  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INF  AX  TRY.  17 

fun  to  see  the  man  shoulder  the  quarter  of  beef  and  walk  off 
with  it.  In  shooting  for  beef,  everybody  carried  his  own  target, 
which  consisted  of  a  board  drawn  and  decorated  according  to 
the  taste  of  the  shooter,  and  this  board  the  shooter  carried  home 
with  him  for  exhibition  if  the  "string"  was  a  good  one.  Hence, 
people  had  their  boards  as  trophies  of  the  shooting  that  they  had 
done  on  certain  occasions.  I  remember  one  time,  when  some 
persons  in  a  store  one  evening  were  telling  wonderful  and  fan 
ciful  stories  about  their  adventures  with  Indians  and  game, 
an  old  gentleman  who  had  listened  somewhat  reflecting!}'  for 
some  time  got  up  and  walked  out  of  the  room,  saying,  "Well, 
I  will  take  in  my  board,"  which  was  construed  by  those  present 
to  mean  that  there  was  no  use  of  his  attempting  to  engage1  in 
a  lying  contest  with  the  balance  of  them.  Once  in  a  while 
some  particularly  good  marksman  would  be  "barred."  For 
instance,  on  Fourth  of  July  handbills  would  be  circulated  that 
John  Smith  up  at  Distillery  Point  would  have4  shooting  'for  beef, 
ten  cents  a  shot;  distance,  one  hundred  yards;  free  for  all 
except  Tom  Jones,  or  free  for  all  guns  under  four-foot  barrel, 
or  with  some  other  limitation  which  suited  the  proprietor  of  the 
occasion.  It  was  a  matter  of  great  pride  to  a  man  to  be  "barred." 
Shooting  for  turkeys  was  more  fun.  The  turkey  was  put  in  a 
box  just  high  enough  for  him  to  stand  in  and  put  his  head  out 
through  a  hole  in  the  top.  He  was  generally  moving  his  head, 
and  the  box  was  put  at  a  distance  of  125  yards,  and  for  a  cer 
tain  specified  sum  any  man  could  shoot  at  the4  turkey.  I  have 
frequently  seen  two  wagon-loads  of  turkeys  go  off  in  an  after- 


18  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

noon,  and  it  used  to  appear  to  me  that  the  best  shots  were  those 
who  belonged  to  the  German  military  company.  There  were 
many  professional  hunters  who  were  very  fine  shots,  but  there 
were  several  of  the  Germans  who  held  them  even.  I  remember 
one  time  a  German,  of  whom  I  had  been  taking  German  lessons 
at  the  request  of  my  father,  shot  the  heads  off  of  six  turkeys 
in  succession,  and  he  gave  me  one  to  carry  home. 

The  Mississippi  River  was  a  wide  and  deep  river,  and  the 
first  ferry-boats  were  run  with  horsepower.  They  would  start 
with  a  load  and  then  slowly  jog  upstream  until  by  going  across 
diagonally  they  could  reach  their  landing  on  the  opposite  shore. 
These  horse  ferry-boats  were  always  crowded  with  people,  and 
owing  to  the  kindness  and  indulgence  of  the  owners  the  boys 
could  always  fish  from  the  ferry-boat.  The  result  \vas  that 
some  boy  was  always  hauling  out  a  large  catfish.  I  remember 
straggling  home  one  afternoon  with  two  large  catfish,  one  in 
each  hand,  their  tails  dragging  on  the  ground,  and  I  so  ex 
hausted  before  I  got  home  that  I  had  to  stop  and  guard  the 
catfish  until  somebody  came  who  could  help  me  on  the  trip. 
Afterwards,  steam  ferries  were  introduced,  and  afterwards  the 
river  was  bridged. 

Three  classes  of  persons  seemed  to  lay  on  the  most  style  in 
the  community.  They  were  the  river  pilots,  the  stage-drivers, 
and  the  professional  gamblers.  The  professional  gambler  was 
a  man  whom  I  will  always  well  remember.  lie  wore  black  broad 
cloth,  with  heavy  gold  watch-chains  and  highly  polished  boots. 
In  those  days  everybody  wore  boots.  Shoes  appear  to  have 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  19 


been  a  subsequent  invention.     I  never  wore  a  pair  of  shoes 
until  I  went  into  the  army  (1861). 

The  arrest  of  counterfeiters  was  very  frequent.  The  business 
of  counterfeiting  was  one  which  involved  a  groat  amount  of 
talent.  I  have  on  various  occasions  seen  officers  go  by  with 
counterfeiters  all  dressed  in  black  the  same  as  the  gamblers. 
The  two  professions  ran  together.  The  gamblers  generally  trav 
eled  on  the  Mississippi  river  steamboats  and  gambled  until 
for  some  act  they  were  put  off.  If  they  were  unusually  lucky 
and  had  won  a  great  deal  of  money,  the  captain  would  push 
them  off  on  the  first  landing,  if  they  would  not  return  the  money 
when  demanded  by  the  loser;  most  losers  would  not  demand  it 
back.  It  was  impossible  to  prevent  gambling,  because  it  seemed 
as  if  it  were  part  of  life.  I  never  traveled  on  a  Mississippi  river 
steamboat  in  those  days  but  what  I  saw  prodigious  gambling 
taking  place.  Every  steamboat  had  a  bar,  and  there  was 
enough  drinking  on  every  steamboat  to  support  a  bar  and  keep 
a  barkeeper.  Nowadays  the  barkeeper  would  starve  to  death ; 
almost  everybody  in  those  days  patronized  the  bar.  When 
the  gamblers,  had  played  cards  with  the  passengers  and  had 
made  winnings  they  left  the  steamboat,  and  worked  the  towns 
with  counterfeit  money.  If  they  lost,  they  often  lost  bad  money, 
but  if  they  won,  they  won  good  money.  The  first  game  of  cards 
I  ever  saw  was  on  an  Ohio  river  steamboat  coming  around  to 
St.  Louis,  and  I  remember  both  gold,  silver  and  bank  bills 
piled  up  on  the  table.  On  one  trip  down  to  St.  Louis  I  remember 
a  man  with  twenty-dollar  gold-pieces  piled  up  in  front  of  him, 


20  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

which  my  father  said  was  several  thousand  dollars  in  amount. 
As  any  boy  would,  I  watched  the  game,  and  when  it  was  over 
the  gambler  took  the  pack  of  cards  and  made  me  a  skillfully 
built  card  house  as  big  as  a  bucket,  which  I  carried  around 
for  a  day. 

The  pilots  of  th(4  boats  each  had  his  run,  and  when  the  run 
was  over  they  went  to  the  first-class  hotel.  They  were  persons 
who  had  upon  them  great  responsibility.  They  received  large 
pay  and  were  the  nobility  of  the  salaried  class.  To  be  a  pilot 
and  to  be  responsible  for  the  boat  and  its  passengers  and  cargo 
while  on  a  run  was  considered  a  great  thing.  It  was  often  dis 
cussed  among  the  boys  how  when  they  grew  up  they  were  going 
to  be  pilots. 

The  stage-coach  drivers  were  the  next  of  the  aristocracy- 
The  stage-coach  driver  endeavored  to  exalt  his  profession  to 
the  dignity  of  the  pilot.  The  stage-coach  was  the  principal 
means  of  public  conveyance  outside  of  the  steamboat.  The 
stages  were  of  the  so-called  "Concord"  style,  with  big  heavy 
leather  springs.  They  had  come  West  from  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  the  city  of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  which  had  originated 
the  variety  during  the  early  days  when  civilization  was  grow 
ing,  had  enlarged  its  business  and  manufactories  until  the  Con 
cord  coach  was  the  favorite  typo.  The  driver  always  boarded 
at  a  first-class  hotel,  and  wore  the  finest,  high-heeled  calfskin 
boots,  which  fitted  him  so  tightly  as  to  give  him  pain.  Then 
he  had  "doeskin"  pantaloons  and  large  gauntlet  gloves  which 
came  up  to  his  elbow,  and  a  whip  which  took  several  years  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  21 


practice  to  learn  the  handling  of.  The  driver  would  never  turn 
his  finger  to  do  anything  but  simply  drive.  He  took  no  care  of 
the  stage  or  the  horses.  A  subordinate1  drove1  the  stage1  up  in 
front  of  the  hotel  and  held  the  horses  by  the  head.  AYhen  the 
time  arrived,  and  the  passengers  were  seated,  the  driver  mounted 
the  box,  cracked  the  whip  and  off  he  went,  generally  with  horses 
pretty  nearly  on  the  run.  He  drove  his  accustomed  route  to 
when1  he  met  a  return  stage1  or  returned  with  his  own.  He  did 
not  look  after  the  feeding,  watering,  or  attention  of  the  animals, 
but  when  he  came  back  he1  drove  up  to  the  hotel,  where  a  man 
was  in  waiting,  threw  the1  lines  over  onto  the  sidewalk,  put  the 
whip  in  its  socket,  shouted  to  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry  to  come  in 
and  take  a  drink  with  him,  and  they  all  went  in,  and  he  told 
them  everything  that  had  happened  on  the  trip  and  discussed 
the  program  for  the  evening.  He  had  a  couple  of  pistols  and  a 
water-proof  coat  on  the  box  with  him,  and  if  he  had  heard  any- 
thin";  about  highwaymen  he  immediatelv  reported  it.  He  was 

o  o  J  %/  L 

out  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  was  brave  and  alert,  and  as  tough 
as  a  pine1  knot. 


CHAPTER  3. 

The  Churches. — Lecturers. — Horse-Thieves. — Robbers. — "  Banditti  of  the 
Prairies." — Steamboat  Robberies. — Pistols  and  Guns. — Indian  Ponies. 
— Homemade  Clothes. — Boots. — Hogs  and  Bacon. — Fiddlers. — Pitts- 
burg  Coal  and  Lumber. — Lamps  and  Oil. — Fire  Engines  and  Fights. — 
Panic  of  18o7. — "  Shinplasters."— Fractional  Currency. 

The  churches  in  those  days  were  small  and  feebly  attended. 
The  denominations  seemed  to  be  numerous  enough,  and  they 
seemed  to  go  according  to  the  political  beliefs  of  their  attend 
ants.  The  Protestant  churches  were  always  inferior  in  con 
struction  and  attendance  to  the  Catholic.  The  Catholic  church 
always  had  more  members,  mostly  Irish  and  German,  than  the 
others.  Church  fairs,  church  frolics  and  church  picnics  were  a 
matter  of  frequent  occurrence.  There  was  constantly  some  ex 
cursion  or  some  picnic  or  some  fair  or  festival  being  held ;  there 
were  also  a  great  many  lectures.  The  churches  were  always 
open  for  lectures,  free ;  and  it  seemed  as  if  lecturing  had  a  great 
stimulus,  because  there  were  lectures  all  the  time  by  somebody. 
For  instance,  an  army  officer  would  be  seen  with  his  shoulder- 
straps  at  a  hotel.  He  would  be  asked  where  he  was  from.  He 
would  tell,  and  then  he  would  be  asked  to  lecture.  I-  remem 
ber  all  sorts  of  lectures  from  all  sorts  of  people  upon  all  sorts  of 
subjects,  and  it  seems  to  me  now  as  if  it  were  one  of  the  chief 
amusements  of  those  times.  It  was  a  very'proper  one  when  we 
remember  that  the  Iowa  towns  then  were  far  off  from  any  rail 
road,  or  any  literary  or  trade  center,  and  the  people  were  obliged 

(22) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  23 


to  provide   themselves  with  amusements.     The  Germans  had 
theatricals  galore. 

During  the  Early  Days  of  Iowa  horse-thieves  and  robbers 
were  plenty.  A  man  might  be  knocked  down  and  robbed  al 
most  anywhere;  there  seemed  to  be  more  incentive  for  it  then 
than  now,  because  people  carried  their  money  more  with  them 
then  than  now.  Banks  were  too  insecure  to  permit  a  person  to 
trust  them  far,  and  although  then4  were  many  banks  of  very 
high  standing,  the  condition  was  perilous,  and  it  seemed  as  if 
everybody  expected  that  sooner  or  later  every  bank  would  have 
to  "go  broke"  or  "fail  up/'  and  there  was  more  of  a  feeling  of 
distrust  in  the  community  ten  times  over  than  now.  So  that 
robbery  and  organized  bands  of  robbers  were  common,  and  I 
remember  of  many  arrests  and  at  least  one  hanging,  and  several 
trials  of  persons  who  were  claimed  to  belong  to  what  were  then 
known  as  "The  Banditti  of  the  Prairies."  It  was  claimed 
that  these  gangs  would  distribute  themselves  along  the  river 
and  would  get  on  one  after  another  at  different  landings,  as  the 
boats  went  up  the  river,  and  finally  after  riding  along  as  con 
federates  until  they  had  discovered  what  passengers  had  money, 
would  rob  the  passengers  and  then  get  off  one  at  a  time  at  dif 
ferent  landings  as  they  had  got  on.  I  do  not  remember  ever  to 
have  ridden  on  the  Mississippi  river  a  hundred  miles  at  a  time 
without  some  circumstance  of  robbery  taking  place  upon  the 
boat,  and  I  was  on  steamboats  often  with  my  father  and  rela 
tives.  Upon  two  different  occasions  I  remember  the  boat  to 
have  been  stopped  out  in  midstream  and  every  passenger  lined 


24  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


up  in  the  cabin,  while  the  officers  searched  the"  boat  in  every 
particular  and  then  searched  every  passenger.  I  remember 
one  morning  a  passenger  breaking  out  of  his  stateroom  during 
breakfast;  his  suspenders  were  hanging  down  his  back,  and  he 
shouted,  "I  am  robbed!  I  am  robbed!"  The  passengers  all 
arose  from  breakfast  because  the  man  shouted  in  such  an  ex 
cited  manner.  He  said  that  somebody  had  taken  sixteen  hun 
dred  dollars,  and  that  it  was  in  a  leather  bag.  The  captain 
satisfied  himself  that  the  man  was  in  earnest,  and  ordered  every 
passenger  into  the  ladies'  cabin,  and  the  passengers  stood  there 
in  a  large  group.  No  track  of  the  money  could  be  found,  and 
the  passengers  were  all  searched.  Afterwards  on  the  floor  among 
the  group  of  passengers  was  found  a  flexible  leather  bag  which 
had  been  trodden  under  foot  and  which  the  man  recognized  as 
the  bag  from  which  his  money  had  been  taken.  The  robber 
was  among  the  passengers  in  the  group,  but*  could  not  be  identi 
fied.  I  remember  upon  one  occasion  I  heard  a  good  deal  of 
noise  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  There  were  so  many 
burnings  and  explosions  that  we  were  always  afraid  that  the 
boat  would  somehow  get  on  fire  or  explode;  so,  when  any  noise 
took  place  everybody  got  up.  Nobody  ever  seemed  to  undress 
when  going  to  bed.  I  got  up  in  the  morning,  hearing  this  com 
motion,  and  looked  out  and  saw  the  mate  walk  out  on  the  gang 
plank  which  had  been  laid  out  on  the  bank  of  the  river  right  in 
the  heart  of  a  deep,  dense  forest.  A  light  shone  from  burning 
wood  in  a  large  iron  cresset.  These  cressets  were  made  by 
blacksmiths,  and  would  hold  an  armful  of  stovewood.  It  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  25 


an  iron  frame  on  an  iron  stalk  made  sharp  at  the  end  so  that  it 
could  be  pushed  down  into  the  ground.  The  cresset  was  burn 
ing  brightly  on  the  bank,  and  in  back  of  it  was  the  black  and 
somber  forest.  The  mate  got  the  gang-plank  out  onto  the  bank 
and  five  gamblers  all  dressed  in  broadcloth  were  walked  out, 
and  then  the  plank  drawn  in  and  the  steamboat  went  its  way. 
I  remember  of  the  mate  saying  that  those  fellows  would  get 
mighty  hungry  before  they  found  anything  to  eat.  They  had 
won  a  lot  of  money  from  a  passenger,  and  would  not  give  it  back 
when  the  wife  of  the  passenger  demanded  it.  The  captain,  so 
it  appears,  had  got  a  posse  of  his  men  with  guns,  and  had  made 
the  gamblers  give  up  what  they  had  won  and  then  made  them 
get  off  on  the  bank  where  they  might  have  to  walk,  nobody 
knows  how  far  or  whore  or  through  what,  to  reach  a  human 
habitation  in  what  was  then  a  wild  country. 

The  Banditti  of  the  Prairies  seemed  to  thrive  as  the  emigra 
tion  increased,  and  I  do  not  know  any  house  of  the  time  that  did 
not  have  a  gun,  nor  do  I  remember  a  boy  that  did  not  have  a 
pistol.  It  seemed  as  if  pistols  and  boys  went  together,  and  the 
boys  were  always  shooting  the  pistols  and  always  having  some 
accidents  with  them.  Pistols  were  for  sale  everywhere,  made4  so 
as  to  be  used  with  a  percussion  cap,  which  was  not  then  an  old 
invention,  but  they  were  muzzle-loading,  and  although  I  do  not 
think  I  had  any  more  experience  than  most  of  the  boys  of  the 
time,  I  remember  three  of  them  to  have  burst  in  my  hand, 
while  I  was  never  injured. 

When  I  was  fifteen  I  was  measured  for  a  rifle.     It  was  made4 


26  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


and  was  a  splendid,  good-shooting  weapon.  It  was  remarkably 
accurate.  I  have  often  thought  since  then  that  no  more  accurate 
gun  for  short  range  was  ever  made.  It  cost  me  $14,  and  as  soon 
as  I  got  it  I  went  to  work  " barking"  squirrels,  which  was  the 
scientific  way  of  killing  them.  It  consisted  in  killing  the  squirrel 
without  breaking  its  skin.  The  squirrel  being  seen  lies  flat  on 
the  tree  watching,  and  the  science  consisted  in  shooting  at  the 
bark  of  the  tree  under  the  squirrel's  throat,  so  that  the  concus 
sion  on  the  bark  would  knock  him  off  and  kill  him. 

Indian  ponies  were  cheap,  and  somebody  was  always  want 
ing  to  trade  them  for  something,  and  it  was  a  very  dull  boy 
who  could  not  get  hold,  first  or  last,  of  a  pony;  so  that  all  the 
boys  had  ponies  and  everybody  could  ride  a  horse, — and  every 
boy  could  get  a  job  of  work.  There  was  not  much  money  in  the 
work,  but  he  could  nevertheless  get  a  job  of  work.  The  saw 
mills  and  the  brick-yards  and  the  stone  quarries  were  being  con 
stantly  drawn  upon,  and  when  I  needed  a  little  spending-money 
that  I  could  not  get  any  other  way  I  would  run  into  a  sawmill 
or  a  brick-yard  and  pick  up  a  couple  of  dollars.  It  was  some 
times  pretty  hard  work  for  a  boy — carrying  slabs  away  from 
back  of  a  circular  saw  or  toting  brick  out  into  the  sun,  but  the 
constant  emigration  supplied  a  field  for  business,  and  every  boy 
could  get  the  money  to  buy  a  pony,  and  a  gun. 

The  clothes  were  made  by  old  women,  as  a  rule.  There  were 
widows  and  others  who,  as  seamstresses,  would  go  around  to  the 
houses  and  make  the  clothes  for  the  children.  There  were  a 
couple  of  old  ladies  who  always  came  to  our  house  arid  whom 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  27 

my  mother  employed  to  make  clothes,  and  my  mother  frequently 
did  the  cutting-out  of  the  clothes  herself.  They  were  not  sci 
entifically  fashioned,  but  I  never  found  any  trouble  with  them. 
The  boots  were  made  by  shoemakers  at  their  shops,  who  would 
in  advance  take  orders  and  turn  out  the  boots  as  they  got  around 
to  it  and  send  them  to  their  destination.  I  remember  that  I  was 
a  pretty  large-sized  boy  before  I  had  any  "rights-and-lefts. " 
The  boots  I  wore  would  fit  either  foot,  and  each  was  put  on  the 
first  foot  that  it  came  to.  I  remember  the  first  time  that  I  ever 
got  a  pair  of  boots  that  were  "rights-and-lefts,"  and  it  pleased 
me  a  great  deal  to  think  how  scientific  the  world  was  then  be 
coming.  There  were  old  women  who  knit  stockings  as  a  busi 
ness,  and  there  were  women  who  made  men's  caps.  I  do  not 
remember  of  ever  wearing  a  hat  until  I  went  into  the  army. 
The  collars  of  the  shirts  were  all  made  onto  the  shirt,  so  that  the 
collar  and  the  shirt  were  washed  together;  the  collar  turned 
down,  and  the  boy  wore  a  necktie  of  such  gaudy  color  as  the 
taste  of  his  mother  permitted. 

During  the  winter  skating  was  much  enjoyed  as  an  exercise, 
and  large  bonfires  were  built  on  the  ice,  and  every  boy  had 
skates.  While  this  wras  going  on  the  farmers  were  piling  up 
dressed  pork  on  the  wharves  as  if  it  were  cord  wood.  The  hogs 
were  slaughtered  and  hung  up  and  frozen  stiff,  then  they  were 
hauled  into  town,  bought  by  the  dealers  and  piled  on  the  wharves, 
frozen,  under  tarpaulins.  There  were  boats,  in  the  nature  of 
barges,  that  would  go  up  in  the  fall  and  get  frozen  in  during  the 
winter;  and  when  the  ice  melted  they  were  loaded  with  this 


28  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

frozen  meat  and  taken  down  to  St.  Louis.  Such  meat  as  did 
not  make  this  trip  was  cut  up  and  smoked  and  made  into  " sides" 
and  bacon.  These  sides  and  bacon  were  packed  into  the  barges 
and,  as  before  described,  taken  down  to  New  Orleans.  Often 
jolly  parties  supplied  with  provisions,  liquors  and  tobacco  made 
the  trip  to  New  Orleans  for  sheer  fun,  always  having  a  fiddler 
along.  It  seems  to  me  now  as  I  look  back  that  in  my  boyhood 
every  fifth  man  was  a  fiddler.  There  was  never  any  trouble  to 
find  all  the  fiddlers  that  were  needed  for  dances  and  festive  oc 
casions.  They  fiddled  all  night  for  two  dollars. 

About  the  year  1856  a  gas  plant  wras  advocated  in  our  little 
city.  Some  time  afterwards  gas  was  put  in  and  lamp-posts  were 
erected  on  some  of  the  principal  corners  of  the  streets,  but  gas 
was  not  much  used.  The  people  still  adhered  to  tallow  candles 
and  oil  lamps.  Coal  oil  was  not  invented,  and  various  kinds  of 
oils  were  used  with  a  wick,  which  required  to  be  constantly 
picked  up  so  as  to  burn  brighter.  Lard  oil  was  most  commonly 
used,  but  there  were  in  the  market  various  kinds  of  fish  oil  made 
from  ocean  fish,  the  chief  of  which  was  "refined  sperm"  and 
"walrus."  Everybody  burned  wood,  and  most  families  made 
their  own  soap  except  the  best-to-do  families  in  the  cities.  The 
coal  used  in  the  gas  works  and  what  little  was  elsewhere  used 
was  called  "Pittsburg  coal,"  and  was  represented  as  having  been 
brought  from  Pennsylvania  or  West  Virginia,  and  was  hauled  in 
barges  towed  by  the  steamboats.  The  Iowa,  Illinois  and  Mis 
souri  coal  mines  were  not  dreamed  of.  The  first  pine  lumber 
used  came  from  Pittsburg,  Perm.,  and  I  remember  that  a  city 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  29 

hotel,  which  in  an  early  day  was  considered  a  very  nice  hotel, 
was  claimed  to  have  been  finished  up  from  pine  lumber  coining 
from  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  to  Iowa  by  river. 

Fire  companies  were  voluntary  organizations,  without  pay. 
Fire  cisterns  were  placed  in  the  streets  and  water  forced  up  into 
them  from  the  river  by  horsepower  and  by  hand  engines.  The 
city  had  two  fire  engines;  one  was  of  the  best  pattern,  a  double- 
decker  worked  by  sixteen  men.  Everybody  ran  to  a  fire  and 
everybody  helped  on  the  hand  engines.  As  soon  as  one4  man 
was  tired  another  took  hold;  the  work  was  constant,  and  a 
good  stream  was  thrown.  The  regular  firemen  were  very  proud 
of  their  engines,  and  the  hook-and-ladder  company,  being  a  sep 
arate  organization  of  its  own,  felt  that  it  had  a  duty  to  do  in 
having  a  fight  with  the  engine  company  at  the  end  of  every 
fire.  In  fact,  fighting  seemed  to  be  the  order  of  the  day.  No 
body  regarded  fighting  as  serious,  and  down  on  the  wharves  it 
seemed  to  be  nearly  a  continuous  performance  between  the  deck 
hands,  lumbermen,  ferrymen,  and  loafers. 

The  Panic  of  1857  very  much  restricted  all  kinds  of  business. 
All  kinds  of  money  became  scarce  and  coin  practically  went 
out  of  existence,  so  that  it  was  almost  an  impossibility  to  do 
business  for  want  of  small  change.  As  the  matter  became  more 
stringent,  fractional  currency  was  issued  by  the  principal  nun- 
chants,  and  tickets  good,  for  fifty  cents,  or  good  for  twenty-five, 
ten  or  five  cents  were  issued  by  them.  The  counterfeiting  of 
these  tickets  became  an  occupation;  and  the  issuance  of  such 
tickets  became  general.  I  remember  one  time  my  father  was 


30  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


to  be  paid  fift}^  cents,  and  the  parson  offered  my  father  five  ten- 
cent  tickets  good  on  the  town  plasterer.  The  plasterer  was  a 
worthless,  drunken  fellow  who  "emitted  money"  under  the 
same  constitutional  right  as  others.  My  father  was  willing  to 
take  ten  cents'  worth  of  plastering  tickets  on  the  fifty,  but  he 
sorted  out  from  the  debtor's  pile  such  tickets  as  he  was  willing 
to  take  for  the  balance.  The  debtor  had  a  double  handful. 
The  ticket  was  of  course  good  for  plastering.  I  remember  my 
father  had  a  drawer  in  which  he  had  about  a  gallon  of  these 
tickets  of  various  kinds,  and  in  making  change  the  person  se 
lected  out  what  he  thought  he  could  use  of  various  persons. 
Some  clearing-house  arrangement  was  most  probably  in  exist- 
ence_by  which  different  persons  exchanged  with  each  other 
their  tickets,  but  as  to  that  I  do  not  know.  Tickets  were  legiti 
mate  change  for  tickets,  but  not  for  bank-bills  or  "  currency." 

Shortly  after  the  panic  of  1857  it  seemed  that  its  influence  in 
the  East  was  to  throw  thousands  of  people  West,  and  the  emi 
gration  became  greater  and  greater.  Only  a  few  compara 
tively  came  by  steamboat  at  this  date.  Miles  and  miles  of 
covered  wagons  poured  through  from  Illinois.  Out  on  the  edge 
of  the  towns  great  camps  were  located  with  fires  constantly 
burning,  one  group  coming  as  another  passed  on.  The  emigra 
tion  seemed  to  modify  the  political  tone.  Those  who  came  in 
wagons  from  the  North  seemed  to  be  mostly  opposed  to  slavery, 
while  those  who  came  in  the  steamboats,  and  appeared  to  have 
some  property,  seemed  to  be  in  favor  of  slavery.  The  discus 
sion  upon  the  subject  never  for  an  instant  ceased. 


CHAPTER  4. 

The  Harness-Maker. — The  Workman.— The  Discussions. — The  Mudsill.— 
Schools  and  Education. — Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. — Aunt  Phyllis's  Cabin. — 
Attitude  of  Church. — Church  Support  of  Slavery. — Campaign  of  1856. — 
The  Wide- Awakes. — Douglas  and  Lincoln. — Lincoln's  Speech. — Doug 
las's  Speeches. — Douglas's  Theories. — -Popular  Sovereignty. 

My  father  had  a  good  old  Puritan  idea  that  every  young 
man  should  learn  a  trade,  so  he  assigned  me  to  a  term  of  six 
months  of  school  each  year  and  six  months  work  each  year  at 
the  bench.  I  became  a  good  harness-maker,  and  made  coach 
harness.  I  worked  of  ton  in  company  with  as  many  as  twenty- 
five  others.  The  harness  business  at  that  time  was  perhaps 
a  fair  index  of  the  trade  condition  of  the  times.  The  finished 
workman  in  the  harness  business  was  the  "jour."  He  was  a 
good  workman;  in  fact,  an  excellent  workman.  They  were 
a  class  of  bright  men,  as  I  now  recollect  their  discussions;  they 
were  reading  men.  They  would  work  at  their  trade  and  mean 
while  at  the  bench  discuss  important  topics.  The  first  time 
that  I  ever  heard  of  the  great  Cromwell  was  by  some  "jour" 
workman  discussing  him  at  the  bench.  The  "jour"  talked  of 
him  in  a  manner  which,  as  I  now  remember,  indicated  a  close 
study  of  his  life  and  times.  They  talked  about  the  wars  of 
Napoleon  and  of  Europe  and  the  American  Constitution,  and 
discussed  slavery  constantly.  A  "jour"  harness-maker  would 
come  to  the  city,  go  to  the  proprietor  of  a  harness-shop,  present 
his  card,  and  ask  -the  latter  if  he  had  need  for  any  work  being 

(31) 


32  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

made  up.  The  proprietor  would  perhaps  say,  "Yes, — I  want 
four  dozen  riding-bridles  made  up,"  of  such-and-such  a  pattern. 
The  "jour"  would  say,  "What  do  you  pay?"  An  agreement 
being  reached,  the  "jour"  would  go  around  to  the  hotel,  change 
his  clothes,  bring  around  his  ornamental  box  made  of  stamped 
leather,  or  something  of  the  kind,  which  contained  his  kit. 
He  would  then  go  to  work,  make  up  the  stuff,  and  it  would 
be  inspected  and  paid  for.  Then  the  proprietor  would  ask  him 
if  he  wanted  to  do  some  more  work,  and  he  would  say,  "No;" 
I  am  just  looking  around."  There  was  no  harness-makers' 
union.  He  would  scarcely  be  gone  before  another  "jour"  would 
come ;  and  for  that  reason  the  hands  in  the  shop  were  changing 
constantly,  and  they  were  always  telling  of  what  they  had  seen 
and  where  they  had  just  been  and  where  they  proposed  to  go. 
It  used  to  be  a  boast  among  some  of  them  that  they  had  done 
work  in  every  State  in  the  Union.  As  I  now  remember  it, 
it  would  seem  to  me  that  they  were  the  most  peripatetic  work- 
ingmen  in  existence.  One  of  them  would,  for  instance,  indulge 
in  a  talk  like  this:  "Last  month  I  was  in  Vicksburg,  and  So- 
and-So  that  runs  the  big  shop  on  Water  street  is  working  ten 
niggers  and  only  two  white  men.  He  has  just  bought  a  mighty 
bright  nigger  down  in  New  Orleans  who  was  a  shoemaker, 
and  he  wanted  me  to  teach  him  how  to  make  blind-bridles, 
but  I  would  not  do  it."  Then  another  would  say:  "I  was 
down  in  Nashville  five  years  ago,  and  did  not  have  any  diffi 
culty  in  getting  a  job;  but  I  went  around  lately  to  the  shop 
there  where  I  worked  last  and  the  boss  owns  all  of  his  own  help, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  33 

all  niggers, — has  not  got  a  white  man  in  the  shop  except  the 
foreman,  and  won't  keep  him  long."  There  was  so  much  of 
this  sort  of  talk  that  it  all  went  toward  demonstrating  that  as 
the  colored  man  was  trained  up  he  would  take  the  place  of  all 
skilled  labor  in  the  South.  Hence  it  was  that  among  the  tramp 
"jours"  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  all  Abolitionists  and  opposed 
to  slavery;  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  from  the  work- 
ingmen  that  the  opposition  to  slavery  received  its  first  and 
most  powerful  impulse;  the  hatred  for  slave-owners  and  what 
they  called  the  " slave  oligarchy'7  was  bitter  in  the  extreme 
among  the  workingmen  who  had  worked  more  or  less  down 
South. 

Senator  Hammond  of  South  Carolina,  a  Southern  leader  in 
Congress,  in  March,  1858,  referring  to  the  workingmen  of  the 
North,  called  them  the  "mud-sills"  of  society.  In  those  days 
a  "mud-sill"  was  a  well-known  term.  Water-mills  were  erected 
along  all  streams,  and  the  lowest  timbers  of  the  mill  that  were 
put  down  in  the  bottom  amid  the  mud  and  water  were  called 
''mud-sills."  They  were  what  the  mill  rested  on,  and  were 
usually  made  of  black  walnut,  because  it  was  the  wood  which 
longest  resisted  the  action  of  the  mud  and  water.  The  idea 
of  the  Southern  Senator  was  that  the  North  had  become  a 
manufacturing  community,  and  that  its  progress  rested  upon 
the  skilled  laborers,  and  that  they  were  the  mud-sills  of  its 
organization  and  support.  The  laboring-men  immediately  took 
up  the  phrase,  and  it  was  a  very  common  manner  of  greeting, 
then,  for  one  to  greet  the  other  as  a  "mud-sill";  and  in  the 


34  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

morning  if  one  workman  met  another  coming  to  the  bench, 
he  would  say  to  him:  "Good  morning,  old  mud-sill;  how  did 
you  sleep  last  night?"  But  the  significance  of  the  expression 
was  not  much  relished  by  the  Northern  people.  Hence  it  was 
that  the  Civil  War  was  in  fact  a  great  labor  movement,  and  the 
most  intense  sentiment  existed  in  that  portion  of  the  community 
from  which  the  strongest  and  most  active  recruits  could  be 
drawn, — the  workingmen.  Hence  it  was,  after  the  first  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  when  things  seemed  in  such  a  disastrous  and  dis 
organized  condition  and  when  so  many  were  losing  heart,  and 
Lincoln  had  issued  a  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  volun 
teers,  following  it  in  a  very  short  time  with  a  call  for  three 
hundred  thousand  more,  that  the  workingmen  of  the  North 
volunteered  with  the  most  miraculous  speed  and  spontaneity. 
They  felt  that  they  would  be  opening  up  a  labor  market  by 
breaking  down  slavery  and  overthrowing  the  competition  of 
unhired  labor.  This  sentiment  seemed  to  permeate  the  foreign- 
born  Americans,  as  well  as  the  native-born;  each  seemed  to 
feel  the  same  necessity  and  the  same  impulse.  This  will  ac 
count  for  the  personnel  of  the  company  and  regiment  whose  his 
tory  I  am  writing. 

Education  in  those  days  seems  to  have  been  on  somewhat 
different  lines  from  the  present,  as  I  have  stated,  because  there 
was  so  little  known  then  of  what  is  known  now.  In  the  higher 
class  schools  then  recently  established  the  United  States  Con 
stitution  was  a  separate  study  and  was  made  considerable  of, 
the  school  text-book,  I  remember,  being  entitled,  "The  Govern- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  35 


mental  Instructor,"  upon  which  we  were  rigidly  drilled.  It 
seems  to  me  in  looking  back  that  more  than  anything  else  in 
those  days  there  were  studied  and  discussed  the  formation  and 
science  of  our  government,  the  separation  of  its  various  depart 
ments,  and  its  general  scope  from  top  to  bottom.  And  it  now 
seems  to  me  that  we  were  then  engaged  in  the1  perfecting  of  a 
new  scheme  of  government — the  Republic — which  had  to 
undergo  a  vast  amount  of  argument  and  criticism.  There 
were  schools  of  political  theorists  in  those  days  who  claimed 
such  forms  of  government  to  be  republican,  that  to-day  would 
hardly  be  classed  as  such.  I  remember  more  than  one  philoso 
pher  of  the  period  who  thought  that  the  people  ought  to  elect- 
only  the  members  of  the  Legislature  and  the  Governor,  and 
that  the  Governor  ought  to  appoint  all  of  the  subordinate  offi 
cers  of  the  State,  even  including  the  mayors  of  the  cities,  the 
county  officers,  and  justices  of  the  peace;  that  there  ought  to 
be  one  responsible  head  elected  by  the  people,  and  then  that 
responsible  head  held  responsible  for  all  of  the  local  adminis 
tration.  And  they  called  such  ideas  " republican." 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was  a  book  of  which  I  well  remember 
the  appearance.  It  came  first  as  a  serial  in  an  Eastern  news 
paper.  As  soon  as  it  appeared  in  book  form  my  father  brought 
home  a  copy,  in  two  volume's,  and  he  and  mother  took  turns 
in  reading  it  aloud:  I  listened.  Afterwards,  I  read  it  to  myself. 
It  seemed  as  if  everybody  else  read  it.  From  a  political  point 
of  view  it  was  like  pouring  a  bucketful  of  coal-oil  on  a  bon 
fire.  Everybody  knew  the  book  and  everybody  discussed  it. 


36  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


Every  Abolitionist  read  it,  and  every  champion  of  slavery  read 
it  so  as  to  meet  the  discussion.  The  latter  scoffed  at  the  in 
human  features  of  the  presentation  and  pronounced  them  false 
and  overdrawn,  and  dilated  proudly  on  the  portion  that  was 
kindly  and  humane  as  being  a  truthful  portrayal  of  the  benevo 
lent  and  philanthropic  institution  of  slavery.  No  novel  ever 
written  was  so  thoroughly  understood.  No  country  was  ever 
before  thrown  into  such  a  spasm  by  a  novel.  In  the  harness- 
shop  and  in  the  fire  company  and  on  the  camp-hunt,  the  boys 
talked  over  and  discussed  the  characters  of  the  novel,  criticised, 
praised  or  condemned  them  as  if  they  were  real,  live,  acting, 
breathing  people  whom  we  all  knew.  Mrs.  Stowc,  in  obedience 
to  what  she  felt  a  public  demand,  published  another  book,  called 
"The  Key  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  It  seemed  a  great  collection 
of  scrap-book  facts.  It  was  intended  to  back  up  any  state 
ment  that  had  seemed  to  be  overdrawn.  I  guess  any  expression 
hostile  to  slavery  could  be  proven  by  the  new  book.  My  father 
bought  a  copy  of  it,  but  I  never  read  it  and  I  never  knew  of 
anybody  who  did.  Those  who  knew,  knew;  and  those  who  did 
not  know,  did  not  want  to  know.  To  offset  the  force  and  effect 
of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  the  South  brought  out  with  great  ac 
claim  and  trumpeting  a  novel  called  "Aunt  Phyllis's  Cabin." 
Paid -for  editorials  and  notices  appeared  everywhere.  The 
book  was  handbilled  and  placarded.  It  was  be-praiscd  and 
be-puffed  in  all  the  book-notices  and  metropolitan  newspapers. 
It  was  heralded  as  a  "complete  answer"  to  "Uncle  Tom." 
It  "completely  overthrew"  (?)  it.  Editorials  commented  on 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  37 

"Aunt  Phyllis"  as  being  one  of  the  most  graphic  portrayals  of 
"the  peculiar  institution/'  its  beneficence  and  its  usefulness, 
ever  written.  My  father  bought  the  book  and  I  tried  to  read  it. 
I  did  read  most  of  it.  It  was  "  cooling  and  healing  and  drawing." 
It  was  mildly  hydro-lacteal,  although  toward  the  end  it  was  less 
milk  and  more  water.  It  was  no  answer;  it  was  the  best  that 
could  be  said;  it  was  the  most  that  could  be  written,  and  it  fell 
in  a  short  time  into  a  deep  and  well-earned  oblivion  as  an  at 
tempt  to  bolster  up  an  illogical  and  vicious  institution.  But 
"Aunt  Phyllis"  seemed  then  to  be  a  truthful  exposition  of  the 
theory  which  the  pulpit  and  the  ministry  seemed  to  adopt. 
Some  of  the  preachers,  generally  of  minor  congregations,  es 
poused  the  cause  of  abolition  with  great  force;  some  of  them 
were  outspoken  and  vehement,  but  the  clerical  sentiment  was, 
as  a  whole,  in  my  then  neighborhood,  mildly  in  favor  of  slavery, 
and  that  nothing  harsh  should  be  said  or  done.  They  put  it  all 
upon  GOD.  If  He  did  not  want  it,  it  would  not  be.  "Cursed 
be  Canaan"  was  the  expression  found  in  the  Bible.  The  bond 
age  of  the  African  was  alleged  to  be  more  of  a  blessing  to  the 
African  than  to  the  white  man,  and  it  was  claimed  to  be  God's 
plan  (by  those  who  knew  His  plans)  to  bring  up  the  African 
from  a  barbaric  condition  to  usefulness  and  Christianity.  There 
was  in  fact  a  great  deal  of  good  argument  in  the  proposition  that 
the  African  was  a  barbarian  who  was  being  bred  up  from  a  can 
nibal  to  a  Christian,  and  was  being  taught  industry  and  good 
manners.  There  was  much  of  truth  in  it,  but  no  sentiment. 
It  was  difficult  to  overcome  the  influence  and  arguments  of  the 


38  THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 


church  in  favor  of  slavery.  The  phrase,  "Cursed  be  Canaan/' 
seemed  to  be  invincible.  I.  never  heard  but  one  answer  that 
seemed  to  meet  the  point,  and  that  was  by  a  Scotch  carriage- 
trimmer  in  my  father's  employ,  named  Givens,  who  said,  "The 
Bible  be  damned."  Thereupon  all  the  workmen,  about  twenty 
in  number,  began  pounding  upon  their  benches  with  hammers. 
Givens  was  an  Abolitionist. 

As  matters  progressed  and  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  in 
creased,  the4  preachers  had  less  to  say  about  "Ham"  and  "Ca 
naan,"  and  joined  more  and  more  in  the  anti-slavery  procession. 
In  fact,  the  church  could  not  control  the  movement:  could  not 
even  guide  it :  it  was  a  movement  by  the  white  man  for  the  white 
man's  benefit,  by  the  laborer  for  the  laborer,  and  what  the  Af 
rican  had  been,  was,  or  would  be,  was  only  collaterally  consid 
ered.  The  movement,  as  I  have  said,  was  a  great  labor  move 
ment.  It  was  an  effort  by  the  paid  free  laborer  to  break  down 
the  competition  of  the  unpaid  slave  laborer.  It  involved  'not 
only  the  dignity  of  labor,  but  the  very  existence  of  free  labor, 
and  biblical  texts  did  not  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  situation. 
Nor  did  the  laborers  believe  that  anyone  had  with  certainty 
detected  what  the  plans  of  God  were ;  others  with  a  spirit  of 
prophecy  declared  that  God  was  going  to  change  His  plans.  Of 
this  subject  I  will  speak  again  in  the  next  chapter. 

When  General  Fremont  was  nominated,  in  1856,  his  candidacy 
was  thoroughly  espoused  by  all  of  the  anti-slavery  element,  and 
we  boys  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  atmosphere  of  excite 
ment  and  disturbance  readily  fell  into  the  campaign.  An  or- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  39 

ganization  was  got  up,  called  the  "Young  Republicans."  It 
was  the  first  marching-club  which  I  had  ever  seen.  We  had  a 
simple  drill  to  start  on;  and  were  all  boys  under  voting  age. 
We  drilled  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  the  tactics  becoming 
complicated  and  interesting,  we  adopted  an  oilcloth  uniform 
with  oil  lamps.  I  remember  once  we  needed  some  oil  to  fill  the 
lamps  in  the  armory,  as  we  called  it,  and  I  was  sent  for  "walrus 

oil." 

The  Fremont  election  was  an  exceedingly  exciting  one.  The 
latter  part  of  it  was  a  series  of  free  fights.  The  slave  question 
had  got  into  such  an  acute  condition  that  prior  to  the  voting 
everybody  had  his  mind  made  up,  and  everybody  was  trying  to 
convince  somebody  else,  and  somebody  else  would  rather  fight 
than  be  convinced.  Our  Republican  Club  had  a  fight  every  time 
it  paraded.  As  I  now  recollect,  it  seems  to  me  that  upon  the  slav 
ery  question  the  Germans  and  Irish  took  opposite  sides,  although 
afterwards,  when  the  war  broke  out,  it  was  not  so  much  so.  But 
in  1856,  my  recollection  is  that  the  Germans  were  against  slavery 
and  the  Irish  were  adherents  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  it  used 
to  be  said  that  the  Democratic  party  in  New  Orleans  was  com 
posed  very  largely  of  the  Irish  who  had  settled  there.  After 
wards  they  formed  a  noted  portion  of  the  Confederate  army. 
But,  nevertheless,  I  remember  some  few  Germans  who  were 
Democrats  and  who  were  in  favor  of  slavery.  There*  were 
"Anti- Abolition"  societies  and  "Democratic  Young  Men"  socie 
ties,  and  considerable  opposition  to  what  were  then  called  the 
"Abolitionists,"  and  when  the  Republican  Club  paraded  there 


40  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

were  always  rocks  thrown  in,  and  before  the  matter  was  over 
there  was  always  a  fight.  The  macadam  of  the  streets  was  very 
generally  used  on  those  occasions.  When  we  paraded  one  man 
carried  a  pick. 

When  Douglas  and  Lincoln  had  their  celebrated  debates  in 
Illinois  over  their  contest  for  the  United  States  Seriate,  the  whole 
State  of  Iowa  was  filled  with  enthusiasm.  Lincoln  came  to  our 
town  across  the  line  and  made  a  speech.  I  remember  him  well, 
but  somehow  I  was  not  attracted  toward  Mr.  Lincoln  as  I  was 
toward  Mr.  Douglas,  although  I  believed  as  Lincoln  did,  and 
my  father  was  for  Lincoln.  Lincoln's  speech  seemed  to  be  on  a 
high  plane,  but  he  seemed  to  me  to  shoot  over  the  heads  of  his 
hearers.  He  was  philosophic  and  argumentative  and  no  doubt 
convinced  many  by  his  logic,  but  he  had  such  a  long,  loose,  gang 
ling  manner  that  he  seemed  sort  of  ill  at  case,  and  he  was  not  as 
handsome  a  man  as  his  pictures  made  since  then  have  appeared 
to  me  to  show.  He  was  no  orator  then.  In  those  days  everybody 
wTent  to  hear  anybody  talk.  Douglas  came  to  our  place  twice,  and 
got  "full"  both  times.  We  had  in  our  town  a  very  conspicuous 
New  England  Democrat  who  was  himself  a  great  lawyer  and  a 
good  speaker;  he  wras  always  full  of  brandy,  and  everybody 
said  he  had  more  sense  when  he  was  drunk  than  when  he  was 
sober.  I  remember  the  first  time  that  Douglas  came  to  our  city. 
He  was  introduced  by  this  lawyer.  Douglas  was  "full"  as  could 
be,  and  so  was  the  lawyer.  The  lawyer  had  a  cane,  and  from 
one  of  the  side  benches  of  the  hall  when  the  time  came,  the  law 
yer  took  Douglas  by  the  arm  and  their  voyage  up  onto  the  plat- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  41 


form  was  incredibly  amusing,  and  we  all  yelled  and  cheered  our 
best.  There  had  been  put  a  table  upon  the  platform.  The  law 
yer  with  the  aid  of  his  cane  managed  to  return  back  to  a  seat 
on  the  side  of  the  platform,  leaving  Mr.  Douglas  alone,  who 
steadied  himself  by  the  table.  Mr.  Douglas's  utterances  were 
at  first  somewhat  pointless  and  labored,  but  in  a  little  while  he 
seemed  to  get  under  steam,  and  before  he  got  through  he  was 
sobered  up  so  that  he  could  staitd  away  from  the  table, — and 
such  a  speech  I  thought  I  never  heard  in  my  life.  If  the  art  of 
oratory  is  the  art  of  pleasing  an  audience,  Mr.  Douglas  surely 
had  it.  He  was  a  pleasant-mannered  man,  and  spoke  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  kind  terms ;  but  his  speech  was  so  full  of  fun  and  ridi 
cule  and  good-natured  jest  that  he  soon  had  his  audience  com 
pletely  under  control.  As  time  went  by  his  speech  grew  better 
and  better,  and  as  he  proceeded  he  seemed  to  be  freer  from  him 
self  :  before  he  was  through  he  was  prancing  over  the  platform 
and  his  remarks  were  followed  by  applause  and  yells  after  every 
sentence,  in  which  I  myself  joined.  Mr.  Douglas's  second  speech, 
made  a  while  after  that,  was  also  made1  when  he  was  greatly  un 
der  the  influence  of  liquor  to  start  with,  but  the  speech  improved 
as  he  proceeded.  I  remember  my  father  reading  a  newspaper 
squib  about  that  time  in  which  it  depicted  Douglas  preparing  for 
a  speech.  He  had  his  feet  in  a  tub  full  of  ice-water,  and  was 
drinking  two  quart  bottles  of  champagne  to  get  ready  to  make 
the  speech. 

There  was  something  about  the  attitude  of  Stephen  A.  Doug 
las  which,  it  seems  to  me,  was  never  plainly  understood.     My 


42  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


father  held  him  in  great  respect.  Yet  my  father  was  an  in 
tense  Abolitionist.  He  used  to  say  that  Douglas's  policy  would, 
in  time,  overthrow  slavery.  Mr.  Douglas  advocated  a  policy 
which  he  called  u popular  sovereignty."  It  was  that  the  people 
by  their  votes  should  be  able  to  control  slavery  in  the  Territories. 
This  was  believed  by  the  Southerners  to  throw  the  Territories 
open  to  conquest  by  the  Abolitionists.  It  was  considered  dan 
gerous  because  the  Northern  States  were  becoming  overwhelm 
ingly  populous,  and  the  labor  question,  that  is,  the  anti-slavery 
question,  predominant.  It  was  considered  equivalent  to  say 
ing  that  slavery  might  be  exterminated  in  the  Territories. 
This  was  contrary  to  slavery  principles,  viz.,  that  slavery  was 
recognized  by  the  Constitution;  that  slavery  could  go  any 
where,  and  that  " Slavery  is  national  and  freedom  sectional." 
Further,  if  the  Douglas  heresy  prevailed,  what  would  be  the 
difficulty  of  applying  it  to  the  States  after  the  Territories  had 
been  subjugated  by  the  Abolitionists.  These  theories  of  Mr. 
Douglas  were  portentous  in  the  apprehension  of  the  Southern 
people.  And  yet  Mr.  Douglas  advocated  slavery  and  believed 
in  it.  What  he  advocated  was  a  solution  of  existing  difficul 
ties.  It  seemed  for  the  time  sensible;  it  recognized  the  rights 
of  the  American  citizen.  It  was,  in  effect,  to  make  slavery 
local,  and  to  give  labor  a  chance  in  each  community.  It  was 
seen  that  the  Douglas  theory  would  in  the  long  run  strangle 
slavery,  but  would  do  it  gradually  and  so  slowly  that  much 
time  would  elapse.  The  Douglas  doctrine  would  not  do  for  the 
Abolitionists.  It  was  far  too  slow.  It  would  take  a  century. 
They  wanted  it  done  in  thirty  minutes.  The  doctrine  would 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  43 


not  do  for  the  slaveholding  aristocracy.  It  meant  a  long  con 
flict  and  death  finally  by  suffocation.  But  for  the  United 
States,  it  was  either  the  Douglas  theory,  or  it  was  war.  The 
ardent  people  on  both  sides  opposed  it.  The  "Abolitionists" 
and  the  "  Fire-eaters"  both  opposed  it.  They  nicknamed  popu 
lar  sovereignty  and  called  it  "Squatter  sovereignty/'  and  voters 
were  called  "sovereign  squats."  The  latter  slang  term  was  so 
universal  that  it  became  a  term  equivalent  to  the  word  "people." 
I  remember  once  of  a  school-house  orator  beginning  his  address 
with,  "I  appear  with  pleasure  before  this  intelligent  body  of 
sovereign  squats  this  evening,"  etc.,  etc.  Mr.  Douglas's  theories 
went  to  pieces  and  he  with  them.  The  Abolitionists  were  geared 
up  too  high.  Their  speed  was  too  rapid.  They  could  not 
work  with  him,  and  hence  they  fought  him, — and  they  fought 
hard, — very  hard.  The  South  fought  him  because  he  was  im 
possible  from  a  Southern  point  of  view.  Slavery  could  only 
live  by  expansion  and  aggression.  Like  a  wild  animal,  which 
it  was,  it  would  perish  from  confinement.  To  the  theories  of 
Mr.  Douglas,  my  father  was  opposed;  my  father  wanted  to  see 
slavery  wiped  out.  He  wanted  to  live  to  see  it  wiped  out.  He 
wanted  to  see  it  abolished  everywhere  and  anyhow.  My  father 
was  a  typical  Abolitionist.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  slow;  Mr.  Doug 
las  was  exceedingly  slow.  To  the  Fire-eaters,  Mr.  Douglas 
was  altogether  too  fast,  and  his  election  as  President  meant  to 
them  ultimate  secession,  because  the}'  preferred  disunion  to 
abolition.  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better  for  the  United 
States  had  Mr.  Lincoln  been  defeated  and  Mr.  Douglas  elected 
President. 


CHAPTER  5. 

Fremont's  Defeat. — Troubles  in  Kansas. — Zouave  Company  Organized. — - 
Abolitionists. — Emancipation. — Negro-Stealing. — Boycott. — Attitude  of 
Church. — -Underground  Railroad. — United  States  Marshals. — Attitude 
of  Lawyers. — Discussion  of  Constitution. — School  Oratory. — A  Lincoln 
Story. 

After  the  defeat  of  Fremont  for  President,  the  slavery  dis 
cussion  increased.  The  troubles  in  Kansas  took  a  deep  hold 
upon  the  people  of  Iowa.  Every  phase  of  the  Kansas  question 
was  watched  with  great  eagerness  and  discussed  by  everybody. 
Societies  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  sending  aid  to  Kansas. 
As  the  pro-slavery  forces  had  held  the  Missouri  river  and  cut 
off  communications,  shipments  were  made  by  wagon  through 
the  southern  part  of  Iowa  over  into  Nebraska  and  then  south 
by  the  main  road.  The  stuff  was  gathered  by  contribution, 
and  consisted  of  food,  clothing,  and  ammunition.  These  con 
tributions  were  sent  to  certain  persons  who  kept  what  might 
be  called  depots,  and  when  a  good  large  wagon-load  had  accu 
mulated,  it  was  properly  sacked  or  boxed  and  sent  to  the  north 
eastern  part  of  Kansas  by  contract  with  some  trusted  wagoner. 
One  of  the  persons  who  was  made  a  designated  depositary  was 
my  father,  and  I  remember  more  than  once  of  his  making  con 
tracts  and  inventorying  the  contents  of  the  wagon  to  the  per 
son  in  charge.  If  others  sent  as  much  as  my  father  the  total 
must  have  been  very  great,  by  which  I  mean  upwards  of  a 
thousand  wagon-loads  from  Iowa.  But  it  was  all  done  in  a 

(44) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  45 

very  silent  way,  and  the  persons  to  whom  the  stuff  was  sent 
were  well-known  and  trusted  persons  who  had  moved  to  Kansas. 
Several  of  them  had  gone  from  our  neighborhood, —  young, 
reputable,  ardent  men,  with  education  and  a  determination 
to  join  in  the  anti-slavery  campaign.  Several  of  them  after 
ward  became  well-known  and  honored  citizens  of  Kansas. 

The  Torch-Carriers  of  1856  got  a  taste  of  military  drill,  and 
soon  afterward  formed  a  military  company  of  their  own,  to 
which  were  added  a  number  of  other  young  men.  We  bought 
our  own  uniforms,  and  after  some  degree  of  drilling  we  became 
quite  proficient  and  gave  exhibition  drills  in  the  city,  and  it 
was  called  by  sneerers,  "The  Abolition  Company."  It  also 
received  many  courtesies  from  some  of  the  citizens;  they  hired 
us  a  hall  to  drill  in.  It  was  noteworthy  that  the  wealthy  people 
seemed  to  be  Democratic  in  their  tendencies,  and  to  be  pro- 
slavery.  The  principal  merchants,  the  principal  lawyers  and 
the  principal  bankers  gloried  in  being  Democrats  and  opposed 
to  abolitionism ;  and  a  great  many  who  were  opposed  to  slavery 
concurred  with  them,  in  general  political  matters,  so  that  it  re 
strained  any  very  ardent  public  ebullition  of  sentiment.  The 
State  had  been  going  Democratic,  in  politics. 

The  word  abolitionist  was  not  popular,  and  there  were  only 
a  few  anti-slavery  men  who  would  permit  themselves  to  be 
called  "Abolitionists."  Many  a  man  who  was  an  anti-slavery 
man  would  fight  in  a  minute  if  he  were  insulted  by  being  called 
an  Abolitionist,  because  the  word  "Abolitionist"  as  then  used 
had  a  significance  attached  to  it  which  can  hardly  now  be  under- 


46  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


stood,  and  it  grew  out  of  the  peculiar  condition  of  things.  To 
illustrate :  There  were  a  great  many  zealots  and  a  great  many 
who  desired  notoriety,  as  there  arc  in  all  communities.  They 
desired  to  be  doing  things  which  would  attract  attention,  and 
occasionally  one  of  these  men  would  say  that  he  had  been  down 
South  somewhere  and  had  influenced  certain  slaves  to  run  away 
from  their  masters;  or  that  he  had  helped  slaves  to  escape. 
Without  doubt  there  was  considerable  of  this  going  on,  and  it  so 
infuriated  the  owners  of  slaves  in  slave  territory  that  anyone 
caught  in  the  act  was  immediately  shot,  imprisoned  or  hung; 
and  as  the  sentiment  of  emancipation  and  liberation  grew,  it 
became  more  and  more  necessary  for  slave-owners  to  keep 
strict  guard  over  their  property,  and  the  restrictions  became 
more  and  more  severe  both  as  to  slaves  being  educated  and  as 
to  their  associating  together.  It  became  a  crime  to  teach  a 
slave  the  alphabet.  It  became  a  crime  to  talk  to  a  slave  about 
escape  or  about  the  free  States  or  about  liberty,  and  it  became 
a  crime  among  the  slaves  for  them  to  be  seen  together  in  bodies 
or  under  unusual  circumstances  or  in  company  \vith  any  un 
known  white  man.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  some  slaves  by 
accident  or  peculiar  situation  acquired  the  knowledge  of  reading, 
such  slaves  became  very  dangerous  persons  in  the  inflammable 
condition  which  then  existed,  and  the  more  that  repressive 
measures  were  used  by  the  slave-owners,  the  more  intolerable 
became  the  condition  of  the  slave.  It  grew  to  be  one  of  the 
definitions  of  an  Abolitionist  that  he  was  "a  nigger-thief." 
A  nigger-thief  was,  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  times,  not  only 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  47 


the  worst  kind  of  a  thief,  but  he  was  a  man  who  might  precipi 
tate  a  servile  insurrection  and  promote  rapine  and  murder. 

I  remember  upon  one  occasion  a  minister  in  a  little  pulpit 
advocating  the  duty,  to  his  meager  congregation,  of  sending 
trusted  men  with  money  down  South  to  do  missionary  work 
among  the  negroes  and  explain  to  them  the  rights  of  freedom 
and  direction  of  Canada;  and  to  start  them  on  the  road  to  free 
dom  and  Canada.  I  remember  not  long  after  the  latter  event 
that  a  certain  bilious  young  man  made  up  his  mind  that  he  ought 
to  attempt  this,  and  he  went  down  into  Missouri  and  in  a  very 
short  time  afterwards  wrote  back  for  money  to  get  himself  out 
of  jail.  He  had  been  seen  talking  to  a  slave,  and  was  com 
pelled  to  show  where  he  lived,  and  where  he  had  come  from. 
While  nothing  was  proved  against  him  except  the  fact  that 
he  was  seen  talking  to  a  slave,  he  was  put  into  a  jail,  and  $250 
was  raised  and  sent  down  to  get  him  out,  and  pay  his  way  home, 
where  he  began  lecturing  in  the  field  as  an  Abolitionist  and 
"martyr."  This  class  of  people  were  undesirable,  and  generally 
"frauds."  Another  middle-aged  man  of  his  own  volition  went 
down  into  Missouri,  and  in  a  very  wise  manner  started  some 
little  business  and  occupation,  and  succeeded  in  sending  ten  or  a 
dozen  slaves  up  through  Iowa  to  their  freedom.  It  seemed 
that  nothing  could  be  proved  against  him,  although  he  was 
put  in  jail,  and  I  remember  a  discussion  between  my  father 
and  mother  upon  that  subject  as  to  whether  or  not  the  man 
had  violated  any  moral  law,  my  mother  claiming  that  the  man 
had  a  perfect  right  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  slaves  and  teach 


48  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

them  religious  and  Christian  conduct,  but  had  no  right  secretly 
to  induce  them  to  leave  their  masters.  To  this  my  father 
did  not  wholly  assent,  claiming  that  any  person  in  bondage 
had  a  right  to  run  away,  and  that  nobody  did  an  immoral  thing 
in  telling  him  what  his  rights  were  and  where  to  run  to.  I 
only  give  this  instance  to  show  to  what  an  extent  the  discussion 
of  the  slavery  question  entered  into  every  part  of  life.  As 
stated  in  the  last  chapter,  the  ministers  differed  upon  the  propo- 
ition. 

I  remember  a  very  noted  minister  saying  that  slavery  was 
a  divine  institution,  established  for  the  especial  benefit  of  the 
slaves;  that  it  took  man-eaters  from  their  native  haunts  and 
compelled  them  to  be  of  service  to  themselves  and  to  mankind ; 
and  that  it  was  part  of  a  necessary  hereditary  training  to  bring 
them  up  to  a  position  in  which  they  could  be  useful  members 
of  society,  and  that  emancipation  and  the  permitting  of  the  negro 
to  carry  out  his  idle  and  animal  wishes  and  instincts  was  a  detri 
ment  to  society  and  to  the  negro,  and  was  contrary  to  the  divine 
ordinances,  which  were  in  turn  recognized  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  The  question  whether  or  not  the  Con 
stitution  recognized  slavery  was  a  theme  of  universal  discus 
sion.  Through  the  missionary  efforts — if  that  is  the  right 
name  for  them — of  a  number  of  people  who  were  generally  be 
lieved  by  the  greater  portion  of  the  community  to  be  misguided, 
stations  were  formed  from  Missouri  to  the  Canadian  line.  These 
stations  were  supported  by  voluntary  contributions  from  vari 
ous  sources,  and  the  fleeing  negro  could  go  from  one  to  another 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  49 


until  he  reached  the  Canada  line.  The  persons  who  kept  the 
secret  of  these  stations  were  ready  at  a  call  to  come  and  resist 
the  United  States  marshals.  It  was  not  an  unusual  thing  to 
hear  a  person  spoken  of  as  being  a  man  whom  the  United  States 
marshal  had  called  to  his  assistance  to  capture  a  fugitive  slave, 
and  that  the  man  had  told  the  United  States  marshal  that  he 
would  not  do  it,  and  thereby  became  a  marked  man.  The 
judges  of  the  courts  seemed  to  uphold  slavery,  and  when  the 
deputy  United  States  marshals  caught  a  fugitive1  there  was 
no  great  difficulty  in  Iowa  in  getting  him  back  to  his  master. 
Although  there  might  be  some  persons  who  stood  ready  to  res 
cue  the  negro,  there  were  always  plenty  who  believed  in  slavery 
to  assist  the  marshal.  So  that,  as  I  now  remember,  then1  was 
but  very  little  trouble  in  that  respect,  where  I  lived;  and  I 
remember  several  times  of  seeing  fugitive  negroes  marched 
down  the  street  to  the  steamboat  to  be  taken  South. 

I  cannot  illustrate  the  fugitive  system  as  it  then  prevailed 
better  than  by  an  occurrence  which  happened  as  follows :  A 
new,  well-advertised  private1  school  having  been  started  in  an 
adjoining  county  by  some  enterprising  people  from  Massa 
chusetts,  my  father  thought  it  best  to  send  me  then1  for  six 
months,  to  see  what  progress  I  would  make.  With  two  or 
three  other  young  men,  I  boarded  at  the  house  of  a  deacon, 
who  was  one  of  the  principal  men  in  the  village.  One  night 
one  of  my  room-mates  woke  me  up  and  said  that  he  had  been 
outdoors  and  that  a  wagon  drove  up  with  six  negroes  in,  and 
that  the  deacon's  wife  had  given  them  all  a  feed,  and  that  the 


50  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


man  who  brought  the  negroes  had  gone  back,  and  that  the 
deacon  hitched  up  his  own  wagon  and  drove  off  with  these 
negroes  north,  the  wagon  apparently  being  filled  with  hay. 
After  discussing  the  matter  somewhat,  we  came  to  the  conclu 
sion  that  we  were  boarding  at  an  "  underground  railroad  sta 
tion"  as  it  was  called.  About  a  week  after  that  one  of  my 
room-mates  conceived  that  it  would  be  a  very  bright,  inter 
esting  thing  for  us  to  black  ourselves  up  and  get  on  some  old 
clothes  and  come  up  to  the  house  at  night  and  play  fugitive 
arid  get  something  to  eat.  So,  five  of  us,  all  staying  at  that 
house,  managed  to  get  some  old  clothes;  some  of  us  turned 
our  clothes  wrong  side  out,  we  blacked  ourselves  up,  and  our 
leader  took  us  forward.  As  this  leader  is  one  of  the  prominent 
lawyers  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  a  great  lawyer  and  a  great 
man,  his  name  is  withheld.  But  most  excellently  did  he  do 
his  part.  In  a  disguised  voice  he  came  with  us,  in  the  shade 
of  the  trees,  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  insisted 
that  there  should  be  no  lights ;  we  were  given  a  midnight  lunch 
all  in  the  darkness.  It  was  an  excellent  lunch.  Then  our 
leader,  making  an  appointment  to  come  again,  retreated,  as 
he  told  them  he  would  do,  to  the  timber,  and  we  went  around 
back  up  into  our  rooms,  enjoying  the  circumstance,  until  we 
began  to  reflect  that  it  might  mean  expulsion  from  our  board 
ing-house  and  perhaps  from  school,  and  we  kept  it  still. 

The  slavery  question,  besides  entering  into  all  discussions, 
entered  almost  every  affair  of  life,  and  it  produced  so  much 
bitterness  that  friends  pulled  away  from  each  other,  business 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  51 


relations  changed,  and  it  seemed  as  if  society  began  to  show  a 
distinct  line  of  cleavage  even  back  prior  to  the  Fremont  elec 
tion.  It  certainly  did  afterwards.  My  father's  business  was 
thoroughly  boycotted  by  all  of  the  pro-slavery  community. 
Perhaps  nowhere  stronger  than  in  the  ministry  was  this  intolerant 
feeling  shown.  Devout  church  people  changed  their  church 
relations;  pastors  found  revolutions  in  their  churches  and  were 
discharged  or  permitted  to  resign,  or  churches  split.  The  Dred 
Scott  decision  greatly  intensified  matters.  It  seemed  to  me, 
as  I  now  remember,  that  there  were  many  more  lawyers  who 
were  pro-slavery  than  anti-slavery.  In  fact,  as  I  now  recol 
lect,  the  lawyers  of  that  period,  with  whom  I  did  not  associate 
much  but  whom  I  knew  simply  from  hearing  them  discussed 
or  hearing  their  speeches, — it  seems  to  me  now,  that  the  best 
lawyers  were  pro-slavery.  In  fact,  I  do  not  now  remember 
any  expression  or  speech  or  remark  by  any  lawyer  anti-slavery, 
but  I  do  remember  many  that  were  pro-slavery,  and  the  dis 
cussion  always  went  upon  constitutional  grounds.  The  dis 
cussions  seemed  to  be  to  prove  that  the  Constitution  favored 
slavery,  recognized  it  and  protected  it,  and  that  property  in 
chattels  included  slaves,  always  had  and  always  would.  Negro 
equality  was  the  argument  thrown  at  the  anti-slavery  adher 
ents.  The  question  on  one  side  would  be:  "How  would  you 
like  to  see  your  daughter  marry  a  nigger?"  That  argument 
was  considered  a  clincher,  it  being  the  effort  of  those  advocat 
ing  pro-slavery  to  show  that  the  moment  the  slaves  were  free 
they  must  of  necessity  be  citizens  and  have  the  right  to  vote. 


52  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

The  constitutional  proposition  came  up  constantly,  whether 
or  not  any  person,  black  or  white,  born  in  the  United  States 
and  arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was  not  per  se  a  voter 
as  well  as  a  citizen.  It  was  claimed  that  the  courts  of  North 
Carolina  had  so  held.  There  was  a  very  common  and  pithy 
argument  used  by  the  anti-slavery  people.  I  first  heard  it  used 
by  my  father,  and  it  ran  as  follows :  He  who  takes  the  prop 
erty  of  another  forcibly  is  a  thief  and  a  robber.  He  who  takes 
a  person's  work  without  paying  him  for  it  is  a  thief  and  a  rob 
ber.  Hence  a  slave-owner  is  a  thief  and  a  robber.  Any  man 
who  sees  a  person  in  the  act  of  being  a  thief  and  a  robber  has  a 
right  to  interfere  and  prevent  it. 

Argument  of  this  kind  only  tended  to  increase  the  general 
bitterness  of  the  situation. 

The  whole  country  was  slowly  drifting  into  the  vortex  of  war. 
In  our  schools  where  we  had  debates,  it  would  appear  that  the 
bo}rs  stood  about  half  and  half  upon  the  slavery  question.  In 
those  days,  Friday  afternoons  were  always  devoted  to  speaking. 
In  fact,  I  think  that  in  those  days  oratory  was  more  taught  than 
now,  if  it  can  be  said  to  have  been  oratory.  Of  the  pieces  re 
cited  some  afternoons,  nearly  all  of  them  would  be  upon  either 
one  side  or  the  other  of  the  slavery  question,  being  oftentimes 
extracts  from  Congressional  speeches.  There  was  also  a  great 
deal  of  so-called  poetry — or  perhaps  rhyme  is  a  better  term— 
upon  the  subject,  in  which  various  noted  poems  were  para 
phrased.  I  remember  of  speaking  one  Friday  afternoon  a 
piece  paraphrased  upon  Excelsior.  Two  Congressman  had  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  53 


fight  in  Washington  over  the  Lecompton  Constitution  of  Kan 
sas,  and  the  refrain  of  the  piece  instead  of  being  "Excelsior" 
was  "Lecompton.1'  It  was  a  very  witty  and  funny  produc 
tion,  written  from  an  anti-slavery  standpoint,  and  was  very 
loudly  received.  The  piece  of  music,  "Listen  to  the  Mocking 
Bird/'  must  have  been  invented,  or  rather  written,  about  the 
first  of  January,  1855,  because  it  was  about  that  time  that  I 
remember  to  have  heard  it.  A  paraphrase  was  rendered  by  a 
little  musical  trio  one  evening  which  ran,  "  Listen  to  the  Bonds 
man's  Groan."  In  fact,  the  "bondsman's  groan"  and  the  crack 
of  the  "slave-driver's  whip"  and  the  "clank  of  the  bondsman's 
chain"  were  three  of  the  pet  phrases  of  the  time.  In  the  school 
compositions,  both  girls  and  boys  discussed  the  slavery  ques 
tion  in  their  little  simple  school  theses,  and  made  frequent  use 
of  these  expressions. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  looming  up  considerably  as  an  anti- 
slavery  candidate.  He  was  not  considered  to  be  an  advanced 
thinker.  In  fact,  he  was  looked  upon  as  being  a  man  dragging 
in  the  rear  and  as  not  being  up  to  the  real  sentiment  of  the  people 
whom  he  sought  to  represent.  I  heard  him  often  discussed  as  a 
person  who  was  a  political  coward  and  afraid  to  come  forward 
and  talk  the  straight  stuff.  My  father  had  at  times  but  little 
patience  with  ^Jr.  Lincoln,  but  greatly  admired  Governor  Seward 
of  New  York,  Horace  Greeley,  and  Charles  Sumner.  There  was 
a  prominent  Democratic  lawyer  of  Iowa  who  had  known  Mr. 
Lincoln  during  the  latter's  youth,  and  he  used  to  tell  a  great 
many  stories  about  "Abe,"  as  he  called  him.  As  the  stories 


54  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


which  lie  told  have  since  appeared  in  print  in  the  current  books 
upon  the  life  of  President  Lincoln,  it  is  not  desirable  to  repeat 
them,  and  there  is  only  one  of  the  stories  of  this  Iowa  lawyer 
that  I  have  never  seen  in  print.  It  was  this:  One  time  he  was 
telling  what  a  lazy  man  Lincoln  was.  He  said  that  "Abe" 
did  hate  to  work  worse  than  any  man  he  ever  knew;  that  he 
could  work  all  right  and  had  worked ;  but  it  was  only  when 
poverty  and  necessity  compelled  him  to  work.  The  lawyer 
told  this  story  to  illustrate  Mr.  Lincoln.  Pie  described  a  country 
store,  where  Abe  Lincoln  was  clerking.  It  was  not  much  of  a 
store,  and  kept  a  general  lot  of  stuff,  and  among  other  things, 
whisky.  The  counter  was  only  about  eighteen  inches  wide, 
and  stood  up  pretty  high  from  the  floor  and  was  not  very  long. 
Lincoln,  he  said,  was  in  the  store  on  the  counter  lying  down, 
with  his  head  on  a  bolt  of  native  jeans,  and  the  counter  was 
not  as  long  as  Lincoln,  and  so  he  had  his  feet  drawn  up  with 
one  leg  over  the  other,  sticking  up  in  the  air.  Lincoln  was 
reading  a  book.  Two  men  came  in  and  said,  "Whisky  for 
two."  Lincoln  never  looked  up  from  his  book,  but  reaching 
his  long  arm  down  back  of  the  counter  seized  a  bottle  and  car 
ried  it  across  to  one  of  the  men,  who  took  it,  then  reached  down 
and  grabbed  a  couple  of  glasses  and  handed  them  to  the  men, 
and  they  poured  out  what  they  wanted  and  drank  what  they 
wanted  and  stuck  down  a  silver  dime  on  Abe's  vest,  and  Abe 
put  the  bottle  back  and  the  glasses  back  and  the  men  went  out ; 
and  during  the  whole  occasion  Abe  had  never  taken  his  eyes  off 
from  the  book,  never  saw  the  men,  and  did  not  know  how  much 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


they  drank.  .He  said:  ''Now  that's  Abe  Lincoln  for  you. 
When  he  was  in  the  store,  there  wasn't  any  git-up  to  him." 
The  person  who  told  this  story  did  not  see  behind  the  story. 
Lincoln  was  after  what  was  in  the  book.  I  refrain  from  giving 
the  story-teller's  name,  because  his  son  afterwards  enlisted  as  a 
private  and  became  a  major  and  a  regimental  commander  of 
one  of  the  best  regiments  that  Iowa  ever  sent  out,  and  earned 
a  title  of  distinction  which  he  most  certainly  merited.  The 
young  man  was  always  a  Democrat  during  the  war  and  was 
a  Democrat  when  he  came  out.  He  belonged  to  that  type  of 
American  citizens,  of  that  day,  called  "War  Democrats,"  of 
which  no  better  type  of  citizens  either  as  to  bravery  or  patriot 
ism  was  ever  seen  on  this  continent  or  any  other.  The  writer 
feels  that  way,  although  he  was  never  of  that  number. 


CHAPTER  6. 

The  Dred  Scott  Decision. — The  John  Brown  Episode. — Negro  Minstrelsy. 

One  Great  National  Occurrence  took  place  in  the  year  1857. 
It  was  the  promulgation  of  the  Drcd  Scott  decision,  in  March 
of  that  year.  It  had  scarcely  been  handed  down  and  been  offi 
cially  printed  when  a  great  wave  of  anti-slavery  sentiment  swept 
across  the  country.  Sentimental  matters  in  governmental  af 
fairs  seem  to  go  in  waves.  The  Drcd  Scott  decision  seemed  to 
produce  a  tidal  wave.  My  father  said  the  decision  was  logical 
but  unjust.  The  decision  was  printed  by  the  million  copies; 
it  came  out  as  a  supplement  to  many  newspapers.  The  New 
York  Tribune  published  and  distributed  a  great  number  of  copies. 
Everybody  discussed  it, — men  and  women,  even  children  over 
the  age  of  fourteen.  Scholars  in  the  public  schools  wrote  com 
positions  on  it.  It  was  talked  up  by  the  press,  the  church,  the 
prayer-meeting  and  the  sewing-society.  The  Abolitionists  there 
upon  contributed  more  time  and  money  to  the  propaganda  and 
redoubled  their  efforts.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Fire-eaters  cir 
culated  the  decision  as  a  clincher, — as  an  indication  that  every 
thing  was  now  settled,  and  then  asked  the  Abolitionists,  "Now, 
will  you  be  good?"  The  two  sides  took  the  decision  in  a  very 
different  way.  The  Abolitionists  said,  "If  that  is  the  law,  some 
thing  must  be  done."  The  Fire-eaters  said,  "That  is  the  law, 

and  the  question  is  ended."     My  father,  when  the  Dretl  Scott 

(56) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  57 

decision  was  rendered,  seemed  to  lose  much  of  his  veneration 
for  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  He  thought  that  it 
needed  fixing.  He  thought  that  if  the  Constitution  could  be 
invoked  to  perpetrate  such  a  wrong  as  that  decision  was,— why, 
that  then,  something,  he  did  not  know  what,  must  be  done. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Fire-eaters  developed  that  wonderful  de 
votion  to  the  "  Union  as  it  is  and  the  Constitution  as  it  was,"  that 
enabled  them  to  speak  of  the  Constitution  as  the  sheet-anchor 
of  their  politics  and  hopes.  Their  devotion  to  the  Constitution 
was  extravagant,  and  remained  so  until  they  made  a  new  one 
at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  in  March,  1861. 

John  Brown  and  His  Career  became  one  of  the  episodes  of 
the  times.  When  he  was  in  Kansas  he  was  a  drawback  to  the 
cause,  and  did  nothing  but  point  arguments  against  it.  He 
was  one  of  those  men  who  are  utterly  without  gift  to  benefit 
a  principle  which  they  espouse.  He  could  not  write  anything. 
Horace  Grecley  could  with  his  pen  do  more  good  in  thirty  min 
utes  than  a  regiment  of  John  Browns  could  do  with  a  pen  in 
a  year.  He  could  not  make  a  speech.  Jim  Lane,  an  anti-slav 
ery  Democrat,  could  get  onto  a  store-box,  on  five  minutes'  no 
tice,  and  do  more  for  the  cause  than  John  Brown  could  do  in 
a  lifetime  by  speech-making.  John  Brown  was  ambitious,  law 
less,  and  egotistic.  He  wanted  to  be  a  leader,  but  lacked  pen, 
speech,  and  ability.  He  never  could  get  but  a  few,  very  few, 
followers,  and  they  were  the  gullible  nobodies  whom  he  picked  up 
here  and  there.  He  was  a  monomaniac  on  the  subject  of  his 
own  importance,  and  with  a  desire  to  be  a  leader,  A  man  who 


58  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

does  not  get  ambitious  until  late  in  life  generally  has  a  bad  at 
tack  of  it.  Brown  was  vain,  and  wanted  to  be  the  subject  of 
neighborhood  discussion.  His  mind  had  a  preposterous  way 
of  working,  and  he  had  no  scruples.  He  made  more  trouble 
for  his  friends  than  for  his  foes.  His  actions  gave  talking  points 
for  his  enemies  against  his  friends.  His  Free-State  colleagues 
had  to  be  his  apologists,  and  many  little  fictions  were  invented 
as  reasons  for  his  lawless  acts.  Finally,  the  Republican  party 
had  to  have  him  run  out  of  Kansas.  They  were  glad  to  get 
rid  of  him.  This  was  December,  1858.  It  was  quite  a  while 
afterwards  that  he  turned  up  at  Harper's  Ferry.  He  had  there 
a  mongrel  lot  of  half-baked,  witless  followers,  none  of  whom 
were  ever  heard  of  before  in  any  reputable  connection,  and  of 
whom  the  survivors  were  never  heard  afterwards.  The  whole 
plan  of  attack  on  Harper's  Ferry  was  senseless  and  irrational. 
The  time  and  place  were  impossible.  As  a  mental  effort,  the 
scheme  was  one  of  hopeless  imbecility.  It  could  end  only  one 
way. 

The  Fire-eaters  had  achieved  a  great  victory.  They  pointed 
out  from  John  Brown's  career  that  Abolitionism  meant  murder, 
invasion,  robbery  and  treason.  The  Abolitionists  could  make 
but  one  answer  to  all  this.  They  said  that  John  Brown  did 
not  represent  anybody  but  himself, — that  he  was  insane.  "He 
was  a  crazy  man," — and  so  the  matter  was  glossed  over  and 
disposed  of.  My  father  thought  that  John  Brown  did  more 
harm  than  good  to  the  Abolition  cause,  and  was  very  much  put 
out  with  the  whole  performance,  and  had  no  sympathy  with  it. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  59 


A  newspaper  said  that  a  Georgian  who  attended  the4  hanging 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  John  Brown  was  hung  with  a 
rope  made  out  of  cotton,  and  that  cotton  was  king.  The  story 
that  John  Brown  kissed  a  negro  baby  on  the  way  to  the  scaffold 
was  invented  as  a  palliative.  There  was  no  foundation  for  it 
and  no  truth  in  it.  This  was  told  me  by  a  Major  with  whom  I 
afterwards  became  well  acquainted  in  the  army.  He  had  gone 
from  Massachusetts  to  help  defend  Brown  at  the  trial.  His 
name  was  Hoyt.  The  only  benefit  of  the  John  Brown  raid,  and 
fiasco,  to  the  North,  was  to  demonstrate  what  a  vast  amount 
of  scare  and  apprehension  there  was  among  the  people  in  the 
South.  Two  dozen  men  threw  them  into  a  spasm.  The  North 
was  growing  rich  and  populous  and  strong,  but  did  not  know 
how  many  " copperheads"  and  "doughfaces"  there  really  were. 
About  one-third  of  the  North  was  willing  to  be  bluffed ;  in  the 
language  of  the  day,  they  were  "Peace  at  any  price."  In  the 
end  they  had  to  be  held  by  the  throat  with  one  hand  while  the 
armies  of  the  North  coerced  the  Confederacy  with  the  other. 

The  "Copperheads"  constituted  about  one-third  of  the 
population  of  the  North;  this  made  the  fight  about  an  even 
thing.  They  were  perhaps  the  most  numerous  and  most  con 
temptible  lot  of  scoundrels  that  appear  in  history.  They  wanted 
the  South  to  win,  but  would  not  fight  for  it.  After  the  war 
was  over  the  soldiers  of  the  North  and  South,  having  gotten  ac 
quainted  with  each  other,  fraternized.  Neither  side  ever  after 
wards  fraternized  much  with  the  Northern  "copperhead"  or 
"doughface."  The  John  Brown  raid  cut  no  figure  except  to 


60  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

injure  the  Abolition  cause,  cut  off  its  neutral  friends  and  em 
barrass  the  progress  of  the  Republican  party.  The  only  way 
to  meet  the  argument  of  the  day  was  to  work  John  Brown  as 
a  "lunatic"  for  all  he  was  worth.  The  South  worked  him  as 
an  "Abolitionist"  for  more  than  he  was  worth.  They  overdid 
it,  as  they  did  everything  else,  in  those  days. 

Negro  Minstrelsy  is  another  thing  which  comes  in  for  con 
sideration  in  a  survey  of  the  times,  although  perhaps  it  per 
tained  more  to  the  North  Mississippi  valley  than  to  the  States 
along  the  line  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  vast  areas  \vcst  of  the 
Alleghanies  were  an  active,  thriving,  hard-working,  prosperous, 
fun-loving  people.  They  loved  wit,  and  sane,  rational  music. 
Opera  troupes  never  then  visited  them.  About  one-half  of  the 
music  of  the  community  was  originated  by  local  talent,  such 
as  singing  societies,  string  bands,  and  church  choirs.  These  or 
ganizations  were  generally  presided  over  by  some  German,  a 
'  refugee  of  the  Revolution,  a  musical  artist  in  training  and  a  gen 
tleman  by  inspiration.  The  balance  of  the  music  was  furnished 
by  the  "Nigger  Minstrel."  There  was  a  great  continuous  swarm 
of  these  troupes  flying  over  the  country.  Good  troupes  made 
money,  were  prosperous,  and  foot-loose  musicians  wanted  to 
get  into  them.  Onto  the  minstrel  stage  all  of  the  wit  of  the 
hour  was  concentrated,  and  here  all  of  the  good  jokes  were 
first  cracked.  Here  was  a  cash  market  for  witticisms  and  little 
short,  catchy  monologues.  And  here  appeared,  sung  by  the 
finest  voices  in  the  land,  the  many  beautiful  songs  of  that 
olden  time.  The  populace,  not  then  being  diseased  with  opera, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  61 


swarmed  to  hear  them  and  to  profoundly  enjoy  them.  Hence, 
in  the  rea"m  of  stage  music  " black  face"  reigned  supreme. 
Sometimes  two  strolling  bands  struck  our  town  the  same  night. 
They  were  easily  and  cheaply  accommodated :  the  court-house, 
a  big  church,  a  public  hall,  or  a  large  warehouse,  could  be  fixed 
up  to  answer  a  requisition  in  two  hours.  The  popular  price 
was,  " Admission  25  cents;  infants  in  arms,  $1."  Every  town 
had  a  band  of  boyish  amateurs.  I  remember  that  one  day  our 
town  was  billed  by  a  "colossal  aggregation77  of  minstrel  talent; 
everybody  went,  but  it  was  finally  discovered  to  be  a  deftly 
concealed  "aggregation"  of  home  talent. 

One  can  readily  see  on  reflection,  when  one  conies  to  look  at 
it,  what  the  result  of  Negro  Minstrelsy  would  be.  Here  would 
be  a  group  of  men  blacked  up  as  darkies  and  saying  the  brightest 
and  wittiest  things  that  were  said  in  the  community.  Here 
would  be  a  desire  to  please  the  community  with  the  choicest 
satire.  There  was  never  a  better  field.  Sambo  on  the  stage 
always  had  something  bright  to  say  to  the  mate  on  the  steam 
boat,  and  the  aristocratic  slaveholder  was  always  enjoying  words 
of  wisdom  from  his  colored  valet.  And  the  songs, — there  were 
hundreds.  The  Thirteenth  Amendment  has  wiped  them  out. 
The  Suwanee  River,  My  Old  Kentucky  Home,  The  Yellow  Rose 
of  Texas,  Massa's  in  the  Cold,  Cold  Ground,  Nicodemus,  and 
a  few  others,  survive.  One  song-writer  was  said  to  have  writ 
ten  four  hundred,  but  they  are  about  all  gone.  The  Emanci 
pation  Proclamation  made  them,  as  far  as  sentiment  goes,  as 
inappropriate  and  uninteresting  as  if  they  had  been  written  of 


62  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

the  Chinese.  But  in  that  day  there  were  perhaps  a  half-mill 
ion  people  every  night  listening  to  the  very  finest  singing  and 
instrumental  music,  where  the  fun  of  the  community  was  cen 
tered,  and  where  the  slave  was  depicted  as  a  loyal  friend  of  his 
master,  as  a  devoted  and  faithful  lover,  as  a  person  deeply  at 
tached  to  his  fireside  and  his  home,  as  a  tender-hearted  mourner 
for  the  departed,  and  a  fountain  of  spontaneous  wit,  humor  and 
philosophy.  The  great  era  of  this  was  from  1850  to  1860.  No 
wonder  that  the  North  rose  up  and  demanded  that  the  African 
should  be  set  free  and  allowed  to  vote.  They  knew  of  him  prin 
cipally  through  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  and  the  Negro  Minstrel. 
In  the  slave  States  the  Minstrel  did  not  flourish  so  ostentatiously, 
and  the  witticisms  were  more  adapted  to  the  condition  of  things. 
I  remember  once  in  St.  Louis  to  have  attended  one  that  had 
an  entirely  different  flavor,  in  which  "Sambo"  came  out  with 
a  banjo  and  sang  a  song  of  which  the  refrain  is  all  I  can  now  re 
member.  It  was,  "A  nigger  will  be  nigger, — that's  my  phil- 
osophee."  The  North  was  fooled, — no,  not  that, — misinformed. 
The  Negro  was  not  what  we  thought  he  was.  But  slavery  had 
to  be  wiped  out  for  the  benefit  of  both  races,  and  because  it 
was  an  obstacle  to  the  rise  and  dignity  and  onward  march  of 
free  white  labor.  The  greatest  labor  movement  that  ever  took 
place  on  the  globe  was  soon  to  begin. 


CHAPTER  7. 

Iowa  Sovereignty.— Zouave  Uniform. — Constant  Drilling-. — Swimming. — 
Campaign  of  1860. — The  Little  Giants. — Wide- Awakes. — Parades  and 
Fights. — Lamp-Posts.— Death  to  Traitors. — The  Armory. — The  "Jour" 
Cigar-Maker. — Fort  Suinter.- — Zouaves  Organized. — Tender  of  Services. 
— The  Billiard  Saloon. — On  the  Roster. — Grandfather. — Attitude  of 
Parents. — Advice  of  Mother. — The  Patriotic  Sermon. — The  German 
Company. — The  Irish  Company. — Acceptance  of  Company. — Beginning 
of  Company  "E." 

The  Flight  of  John  Brown  from  Kansas,  and  the  Kansas 
troubles,  brought  about  a  strange  theory  of  State  sovereignty. 
Several  Iowa  citizens  had  been  mistreated  in  Kansas,  and  the 
question  was  boldly  proposed  that  Iowa  being  a  sovereign  State 
had  the  same  right  to  protect  her  citizens  abroad  that  any  sov 
ereignty  of  Europe  had ;  and  hence  the  proper  thing  for  Iowa  to 
do  was  to  inarch  a  brigade  of  her  citizens  into  Kansas  and  pro 
tect  every  Iowa  citizen  on  that  soil;  and  if  they  could  not  do 
it  any  other  way,  to  whip  any  soldiers,  whether  Kansas  or  Fed 
eral,  that  might  stand. in  the  way.  This  was  the  Iowa  idea 
promulgated  by  Governor  Grimes. 

Our  little  "Abolition  company"  of  militia,  as  it  grew  older, 
grew  more  proficient,  and  there  was  elected  to  its  captaincy, 
in  an  honorary  way,  a  brave  old  Swede.  He  had  served  in  the 
wars  of  Europe,  had  been  through  the  Mexican  War,  and  had 
won  shoulder-straps  in  Mexico.-  He  was  afterwards  killed  as 
a  colonel  in  the  Civil  War, — a  little,  round,  bullet-headed,  brave, 
kind-hearted  Swede. 

(63) 


64  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

The  French  wars  of  Africa  had  brought  forward  a  new  type 
of  soldier  called  the  "  Zouave/'  Our  Swedish  captain  wanted  us 
to  become  Zouaves ;  so  we  all  bought  Zouave  uniforms,— leather 
leggings,  red  flannel  baggy  trousers,  a  light-blue  woolen  shirt, 
and  a  bob-tailed,  dark-blue  cloth  jacket  that  was  more  like  a 
vest  than  a  jacket,  because  it  could  not  be  buttoned  up  except 
at  the  top  button,  and  it  ran  away  to  the  back,  with  rows  of 
round  brass  buttons.  A  little  gold  braid  was  put  on  and  a 
jaunty  cap  with  a  gold  band.  A  handsomer  body  of  young  men 
could  not  have  been  found  than  the  "  Zouaves. "  We  drilled 
by  the  bugle.  Our  skirmish  drills  and  our  ornamental  drills 
were  very  catching.  Whenever  we  drilled  we  had  plenty  of 
spectators.  Our  spectators  were  our  relatives  and  our  sweet 
hearts  and  their  friends,  who  were  anti-slavery  as  a  rule.  We 
received  muskets  from  the  State.  We  supplied  ourselves  with 
cartridges  and  drilled-  in  all  sorts  of  firing.  Our  file  and  vol 
ley  fire  were  considered  to  be  very  fine  and  perfect  perform 
ances.  When  we  marched  through  the  streets,  as  we  did  on 
all  holidays  or  gala-days,  and  sometimes  on  political  occasions, 
the  old  habit  of  throwing  macadam  at  us  ceased.  We  camped 
in  our  armory  a  great  deal.  The  theory  of  it  was  that  we  must 
be  toughened,  that  is  what  the  captain  said;  so  we  would  go  up 
in  the  armory  and  sleep  all  night  on  the  bare  floor  with  our 
heads  on  our  cartridge-boxes,  because  the  captain  said  that  that 
was  the  way  that  soldiers  did.  Then  we  had  a  regular  German 
Turners'  outfit  of  physical  apparatus,  and  we  had  fencing  with 
the  bayonet  and  with  foils.  Our  bayonet  fencing  was  carried 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFAXTRY.  65 


on  very  scientifically,  and  became  a  fad.  A  man  turned  up 
who  showed  an  honorable  discharge  from  a  British  cavalry 
regiment,  and  he  would  saber  against  the  bayonets.  It  used 
to  be  one  of  our  pet  things,  to  do  after  supper,  to  go  down  to 
the  armory  and  fence  with  bayonets  and  sleep  on  the  hard  floor, 
and  then  in  the  morning  have  reveille  at  five  o'clock,  stack  arms, 
and  all  go  home  for  breakfast. 

The  number  of  men  in  our  Zouave  company  I  do  not  now 
remember,  but  as  I  would  now  say  we  had  a  permanent  or 
ganization  of  at  least  sixty,  and  every  man  was  supposed  to  be 
a  swimmer,  and  if  he  could  not  swim  he  must  immediately 
learn  to  swim.  The  captain  of  the  company  said  that  every 
body  in  his  company  would  have  to  be  able  to  swim  the  Mis 
sissippi  river.  The  river  at  this  point  was  half  a  mile  wide. 
If  there  was  a  member  of  that  company  who  did  not  swim  or 
had  not  swum  the  Mississippi  river,  I  do  not  now  recollect  it. 
I  have  swum  the  Mississippi  river  several  times  in  company 
with  a  platoon  of  the  boys,  accompanied  by  a  skiff. 

We  were  called  upon  a  great  deal  to  go  out  and  give  fancy 
drills  and  exhibitions  in  neighboring  towns,  and  our  drilling, 
uniform,  and  new  Zouave  tactics  attracted  a  good  deal  of  at 
tention.  One  day  there  came  to  our  town  a  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Rice,  who  said  that  he  belonged  to  the  Ellsworth  Zou 
aves,  that  was  then  one  of  the  fancy  regiments  of  the  United 
States.  This  is  the  Ellsworth  who  was  killed  at  Alexandria,  Va. 
Rice  stayed  with  us  and  drilled  us  every  night  for  about  a  week, 
and  praised  us  very  highly;  and  although  he  did  not  know 


66  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

much  about  it  himself,  he  pronounced  us  "ready  for  the  field." 
As  I  will  hereafter  show,  we  got  there,  and  he  was  right. 

Matters  in  a  political  way  seemed  to  grow  from  bad  to  worse 
until  the  Presidential  nomination  of  1860.  Everything  seemed 
to  lag;  money  became  scarce,  work  became  scarce,  everybody 
had  gloomy  forebodings,  and  the  Democratic  party  broke  up 
into  several  organizations:  one  party  was  called  the  "Fire- 
eaters,"  and  was  a  distinct  Southern  organization;  another  was 
called  the  "Peace  Party."  There  were  several  prominent  men 
in  our  town  who  were  called  "Fire-eaters."  Stephen  A.  Doug 
las  was  a  Presidential  nominee,  and  as  he  had  been  called  a  little 
giant,  his  followers  were  called  "Giants." 

The  "Wide- Awakes"  were  organized  with  a  military  drill. 
Among  the  Democrats  in  my  part  of  Iowa,  the  Douglas  sentiment 
was  overwhelmingly  predominant.  The  Wide- A  wakes  as  an 
organization  greatly  increased  in  numbers  and  proficiency  of 
drill.  The  Democrats  adopted  a  plaid  uniform,  or  rather  a 
Scotch  uniform,  as  the  marching  uniform  of  their  political  clubs. 
They  spoke  of  themselves  as  the  "Douglas  clan,"  and  called 
themselves  "Little  Giants."  We  called  them  "Little  Joints," 
and  either  the  " Wide-A wakes "  or  the  "Little  Joints"  were 
promenading  on  the  streets,  about  all  the  time,  and  fighting 
considerably  in  the  mean  time.  Political  excitement  was  very 
high  and  something  was  constantly  happening.  Our  Zouave 
company  was  the  heart  of  the  "Wide- A  wake"  organization.  It 
was  impossible  to  have  a  political  parade  without  a  fight.  Sev 
eral  of  my  chums  in  the  Zouaves  belonged  to  the  fire  company; 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  67 


so  when  we  paraded,  before  we  fell  into  the  parade  we  went 
around  to  the  hose-house  and  put  on  belts  with  hose-spanners. 
The  hose-spanner,  as  then  made,  for  coupling  hose,  had  a  crook 
at  one  end  and  about  eighteen  inches  of  iron  handle,  and  was  an 
excellent  thing  to  hold  onto  while  pounding  somebody.  Those 
of  us  who  had  spanners  under  our  uniforms  marched  near  each 
other,  and  whenever  a  brick  or  a  rock  was  hurled  into  our  pro 
cession,  we  made  a  bold  dash  with  our  spanners  into  the  crowd 
for  the  offender,  and  we  often  hurt  somebody. 

The  anti-slavery  sentiment  was  gaining  ground.  Many  peo 
ple,  dissatisfied  with  the  condition  of  public  sentiment,  moved 
South.  The  sentiment  that  one  Southern  man  could  whip  five 
Yankees  was  not  only  prevalent  but  was  constantly  flaunted  at 
us  by  Southern  sympathizers,  and  it  provoked  a  constant  chal 
lenge.  If  I  should  now  estimate  the  condition  of  the  community 
where  I  lived  in  the  summer  of  1860  I  would  say  that  two-thirds 
of  them  had  become  anti-slavery  and  one-third  were  violent 
sympathizers  with  Southern  sentiment,  and  appeared  to  be  full 
of  fight. 

After  the  Very  Heated  Election  was  over  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  known  to  be  elected,  a  citizen  of  our  town  who  was  a  South 
ern  man.  had  come  out  and  declared  that  the  South  must  now 
secede  from  the  Union.  Two  other  young  men  and  I  deter 
mined  to  express  our  views  in  a  somewhat  positive  way.  We 
got  some  rope,  made  a  dozen  halters  with  a  hangman's  noose, 
wrote  out  on  placards,  "Death  to  Traitors  and  Secessionists," 
and  started  out  after  supper  to  hang  them  up  on  the  few  lamp- 


68  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

posts  in  our  little  city.  We  had  got  almost  through  when  a  big, 
brawny  fellow,  who  said  he  was  from  Kentucky,  with  a  party, 
commenced  taking  them  off  from  the  lamp-posts,  and  of  course 
a  fight  ensued;  but  the  battle  was  against  us,  because  we  were 
held  at  bay  while  his  assistants  robbed  most  of  the  lamp-posts 
of  the  nooses.  We  had  not  calculated  on  so  much  resistance,  but 
it  produced  a  great  deal  of  furor  among  us  boys,  and  the  ques 
tion  began  to  be  agitated  whether  any  person  had  not  really 
deserved  to  be  hung  if  he  were  in  favor  of  secession.  In  a  short 
time  after  that,  it  was  noised  about  that  there  was  an  armed 
band  of  a  hundred  Southern  men  in  our  county  who  were  ready  to 
march  South  and  offer  their  services  to  the  South  in  case  of  war. 
Perhaps  this  was  only  a  menace  at  that  time,  but  collisions  in 
the  street  became  very  frequent  among  the  young  fellows. 

It  became  apparent  that  war  was  inevitable.  New  men 
wanted  to  join  the  Zouaves,  and  in  a  short  time  we  had  more 
than  we  could  take  care  of,  and  I  was  one  who  was  appointed 
as  a  drill-master  of  new  recruits. 

During  the  winter  of  1860,  it  thus  happened  that  I  was  down 
at  the  armory  after  supper,  drilling  constantly  with  new  recruits 
who  came  in  and  wanted  to  join  the  Zouaves. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  in  this  narration  to  repeat  what  is 
well  known  of  the  history  of  the  United  States.  I  only  endeavor 
to  give  that  portion  of  private  detail  which  the  historian  must 
omit.  Hence  I  will  not  refer  to  the  heated  condition  of  the 
country  at  large,  to  the  various  acts  of  secession,  to  what  took 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  69 

place  in  Washington;  nor  will  I  refer  to  the  attitude  of  Ken 
tucky  and  Missouri. 

By  the  time  spring  opened  there  had  been  drilled  in  the  Zouave 
armory,  which  was  the  fourth  story  of  a  large  store  building, 
about  two  hundred  men.  The  cannons  were  being  placed  in 
situation  to  bombard  Fort  Sumter.  Our  Swedish  commander 
had  been  taken  violently  ill,  and  was  thought  to  be  unable  to 
recover.  A  young  man  had  joined  our  company  who  was  a  good 
drill-master.  He  had  belonged,  so  he  said,  to  a  Zouave  company 
in  Baltimore,  and  was  a  ''jour"  cigar-maker.  He  falsely  claimed 
to  have  served  five  years  in  the  regular  army.  He  was  an  at 
tractive  fellow,  and  being  a  young  man  of  very  military  bearing, 
and  of  enthusiastic  nature,  he  soon  became  a  favorite  in  our 
company.  Among  the  friends  of  our  company  was  a  young 
doctor  who  had  served  through  the  Mexican  War  as  a  non-com 
missioned  officer,  and  it  was  said  he  had  shown  great  bravery  at 
Buena  Vista  and  at  Palo  Alto.  He  was  a  very  pronounced  anti- 
slavery  man,  and  often  came  down  to  see  us  drill  and  to  talk 
with  the  boys. 

All  at  once  the  gun  fired  on  Fort  Sumter.  The  telegraphic 
dispatches  were  bulletined  in  the  city  as  to  all  the  minutiae  of  the 
transaction.  First,  that  the  gun  was  being  brought  into  posi 
tion;  next,  that  a  certain  officer  had  ordered  the  gun  !o  be 
loaded;  then  in  a  little  while  came  the  telegram  that  a  certain 
officer  was  sighting  the  gun  upon  the  flag  at  Fort  Sumter.  Busi 
ness  was  all  suspended.  Elverybody  was  in  the  streets.  Every 
body  was  asking,  "What  will  happen  next?"  The  Zouaves 


70  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

were  in  their  armory,  which  was  packed.  The  first  thing  to  do 
was  to  telegraph  the  governor,  offering  him  the  services  of  our 
company.  To  do  this  a  provisional  organization  must  hastily 
be  made.  The  Baltimore  cigar-maker  was  instantly  selected 
as  captain.  The  doctor  from  Buena  Vista  and  Palo  Alto  was 
elected  first  lieutenant,  and  one  of  the  new  men  of  our  company 
whose  parents  were  prominent  people  was  elected  second  lieu 
tenant,  with  the  understanding  that  the  sergeants  and  corporals 
would  be  elected  as  soon  as  possible. 

A  telegram  was  sent  to  the  Governor  immediately,  offering 
him  the  company.  The  Governor  promptly  accepted  it,  and 
called  the  company  "E/;  which  was  supposed  at  that  time  to  be 
the  company  that  would  carry  the  colors.  In  fact,  other  com 
panies  had  offered  their  services  before  the  firing  on  Fort  Sum- 
ter.  Now  the  question  was,  who  should  get  into  Company  "E." 
There  were  so  many  in  the  company  older  and  stronger  than  I 
that  I  went  home  that  night  with  a  very  heavy  heart,  feeling  that 
I  \vas  not  going  to  get  into  the  company  and  I  was  not  going  to 
get  to  see  any  of  the  trouble.  I  was  past  nineteen,  but  not  yet 
twenty.  We  could  not  have  half  of  the  boys  in  the  company 
who  wanted  to  go,  and  I  immediately  began  to  work  all  the  tac 
tics  and  politics  and  other  things  which  I  had  or  knew  of  to 
get  in. 

One  of  the  principal  athletic  exercises  at  our  armory  was  box 
ing.  It  \vas  all  in  fun,  but  it  was  quite  earnest  boxing.  Gloves 
were  used  but  little,  although  there  were  two  pairs  there.  The 
boys  stood  up  toe  to  toe  on  the  floor,  and  the  best  man  won. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  71 

Sometimes  the  boxing  degenerated  into  a  veritable  encounter 
and  somebody  got  hurt,  but  the  wounds  were  slight  and  quickly 
healed,  and  the  parties  thereafter  understood  their  mutual  re 
lations  to  each  other.  The  armory  was  a  good  deal  like  a  barn 
yard,  where  it  was  necessary  for  each  of  the  roosters  to  know  who 
was  who.  Hence  the  members  of  the  Zouaves  were  really  quite 
"  scientific/'  although  the  German  military  company,  with  its 
Turner  society,  was  undoubtedly  more  generally  perfect  in  all- 
around  gymnastics. 

In  fact,  I  do  not  think  that  I  would  have  got  into  the  company 
had  it  not  been  for  a  fortunate  accident.  I  was  hunting  our  new 
superior,  the  Baltimore  cigar-maker,  one  evening,  to  impress 
upon  him  the  necessity  of  having  me  in  the  company.  He  was 
in  a  billiard  saloon.  I  went  in  to  find  him.  I  was  somewhat 
unacquainted  with  such  places,  and  I  looked  around  perhaps  a 
little  awkwardly.  I  had  on  my  Zouave  cap.  A  man  came  up 
to  me  and  began  talking  about  Yankees,  and  said  that  they 
would  not  fight  and  that  one  Southern  man  could  whip  five  of 
them  any  time  or  anywhere,  and  that  he  was  from  Kentucky. 
This,  of  course,  required  immediate  attention  on  my  part,  and 
although  he  was  larger  than  I,  I  was  the  more  scientific,  and  in 
addition  to  that,  I  had  the  advantages  described  by  Josh  Bil 
lings:  "  Thrice  armed  is  he  who  has  his  quarrel  just,  and  four 
times  he  who  gets  his  work  in  fust."  I  laid  him  out  in  short 
order,  much  to  my  surprise.  He  arose,  rallied,  and  I  laid  him 
out  in  such  a  way  that  he  was  gathered  up  and  taken  off  by  two 
friends,  over  the  necks  of  whom  he  had  an  arm  and  they  around 


72  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


his  waist.  It  happened  that  my  superior  officer  really  was  in  the 
saloon,  although  I  did  not  see  him,  for  I  was  told  that  I  had  better 
get  out  or  I  might  be  arrested,  and  I  went  home.  The  next  day 
the  Baltimore  cigar-maker  came  around  and  told  my  father  with 
glowing  pride  and  culogium  how  I  had  knocked  the  fellow  in  the 
billiard  hall.  My  pious  old  father  with  great  anguish  recited 
the  story  to  me,  and  gave  me  much  advice  about  visiting  such 
places  and  being  engaged  in  bar-room  brawls.  lie  called  up  our 
old  Puritanic  ancestry,  and  he  seemed  to  feel  remarkably  bad ; 
but  the  occurrence  fixed  me  up  all  right  for  the  Zouave  company. 
The  day  after  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  my  mother  desired 
me  to  spade  up  a  little  patch  of  ground  where  she  wished  to  set 
out  some  flowers.  My  old  grandfather  came  along,  leaning  on 
the  fence  and  asked,  "What  are  you  trying  to  do?"  I  said:  "I 
am  learning  to  throw  up  earthworks.  What  do  you  think  of  the 
prospect  of  war?  "  He  said :  "  I  have  been  expecting  it  for  twenty 
years.  The  country  is  all  gone  to  smash.  The  Constitution  is 
of  no  use  any  more.  We  are  going  to  all  fall  to  pieces  and  all  go 
to  fighting;  the  North  against  the  South,  and  the  East  against 
the  West.  The  Government  which  old  General  George  Wash 
ington  guv  us  is  all  busted  to  pieces.  There  never  will  be  any 
more  such  good  times  as  there  used  to  be.  About  everybody's 
going  to  get  killed  unless  something  stops  it,  and  I  don't  see 
what  there  is  that  can  stop  it.  It  is  State  against  State,  and  it 
will  be  family  against  family  and  man  against  man.  I  don't 
never  expect  to  live  to  see  the  end  of  it.  It  used  to  be  a  great 
thing  to  be  an  American  citizen,  but  we  won't  be  anywhere  now." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  73 

I  said  to  him :  "  I  expect  I  will  he  in  the  war.  Nobody  seems  to 
think  it  will  last  long;  some  say  it  won't  last  over  ninety  days.1' 
My  old  grandfather  said  :  "Oh,  ninety  days  ain't  no  time.  You 
can't  get  ready  in  ninety  days;  but,"  he  said,  "I  guess  you  might 
as  well  go  as  anybody.  War  is  a  great  school.  It  is  a  mighty 
good  school,  or  it  is  a  mighty  bad  school,  according  to  the  way 
you  take  it."  My  old  grandfather  had  for  years  been  a  great 
pessimist,  but  during  his  early  years  he  had  been  in  the  army 
himself,  and  although  he  deprecated  war  he  seemed  to  think 
that  if  properly  used  the  army  was  a  great  school. 

When  I  found  out  that  I  had  been  selected  as  one  to  go  to  the 
war  in  the  Zouave  company  my  happiness  knew  no  bounds.  My 
sister  \vas  very  proud  of  it,  and  her  many  young  lady  friends 
congratulated  me.  I  felt  that  I  might  become  a  favorite,  and 
might  ultimately  be  considered  by  the  young  ladies  generally  as 
being  a  good  deal  of  a  fellow.  Soon  afterwards  when  the  roster 
was  made  up  and  my  name  called  and  I  stood  in  line,  it  was,  to 
use  a  very  commonplace  observation,  but  truthfully  so,  the  hap 
piest  day  of  my  life,  and  those  who  were  successful  all  felt  similar 
elation.  As  we  all  had  to  undergo  a  very  severe  physical  ex 
amination  from  the  United  States  authorities,  the  company  chose 
a  dozen  supernumeraries,  good  fellows,  whom  we  wanted  to  be 
with  us  and  who  should  go  with  us  to  take  any  vacant  place 
which  might  be  opened  in  the  ranks.  Cash  was  frequently  of 
fered  by  outsiders  for  a  place  as  private  soldier  in  the  company. 

When  I  announced  to  my  parents  that  I  had  been  accepted 


74  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

in  the  Zouaves,  things  seemed  to  change  with  them.  The  cap 
tain  of  the  company  really  did  not  want  to  take  anybody  that 
was  under  twenty-one.  He  said  he  wasn't  going  to  have  any 
"veal"  in  his  company.  That  was  the  reason  that  I  at  nine 
teen  hardly  thought  I  was  going  to  get  in.  In  addition  to  not 
wanting  any  "  veal "  in  the  company,  there  were  Southern  people, 
pro-slavery  people,  who  said  that  any  persons  who  let  their  boys 
go  into  the  service  did  so  willingly,  because  they  could  get  out 
any  boy  by  habeas  corpus  who  enlisted.  There  was  a  constant 
stream  of  secession  talk  in  Northern  newspapers,  and  a  constant 
iteration  of  the  fact  that  any  parent  could  take  any  boy  out  of 
the  army,  under  twenty-one.  That  was  what  made  it  hard  for 
me  to  get  in,  and  the  question  with  me  was  whether  or  not  my 
parents  would  take  me  out  on  habeas  corpus.  My  father's  de 
meanor  changed  a  very  great  deal  when  he  found  that  I  was  in. 
He  was  not  half  as  profoundly  stirred  up  over  slavery  as  he  had 
been  before.  I  was  his  only  grown  son.  My  mother  took  a  very 
sensible  view  of  things.  She  cried  some,  but  said  that  if  I  wanted 
to  go  I  ought  to  go.  She  said  that  I  must  write  her  every  week 
if  I  went,  and  she  very  sensibly  said,  "Now  you  want  to  be  care 
ful  and  not  do  anything  that  would  make  you  ashamed  to  come 
back;"  and  she  said:  "Don't  you  go  to  drinking  whisky  and  go 
to  swearing  and  getting  to  be  tough.  Be  sure  and  write  to  me 
every  week,  and  don't  you  have  me  worrying  about  you." 

My  mother  was  in  many  respects  a  most  remarkable  woman. 
I  never  knew  her  to  lose  her  temper.     She  was  a  great  reader, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  75 

and  had  more  friends  than  any  woman  I  ever  knew,  and  she  was 
full  of  the  philosophy  of  life,  and  used  to  say:  "Never  look  back. 
Don't  worry  over  things  you  cannot  help.  Do  your  best,  and 
let  the  balance  go.7' 

As  soon  as  our  company  had  been  organized,  we  who  were  uni 
formed  were  marched  down  to  a  church  where  a  sermon  was  to 
be  preached  to  the  Zouaves.  About  half  of  us  still  wore  our 
Zouave  uniforms.  I  shall  never  forget  that  sermon.  I  do  not 
remember  the  name  of  the  minister.  He  was  a  little,  short,  heavy, 
acrobatic  sort  of  preacher  who  pranced  all  over  the  platform. 
He  seemed  to  have  taken  Stephen  A.  Douglas  as  his  model,  al 
though  he  outdid  him  in  gyrations  considerably.  He  told  us 
that,  if  we  were  called  upon,  we  must  uphold  the  country  and  the 
flag,  and  he  made  the  distinct  statement  that  the  Lord  Almighty 
had  organized  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  out 
kings  and  kingdoms;  that  the  great  curse  of  the  world  was  kings 
and  kingdoms,  and  that  this  government  was  the  only  means  by 
which  the  kings  and  kingdoms  could  be  got  out  of  existence.  It 
was  to  be  a  beacon-light  in  the  world,  and  if  we  lost  our  lives  in 
the  supporting  of  the  government  we  would  go  right  straight  to 
Heaven  as  soon  as  we  were  killed.  I  remember  what  a  very 
assuring  effect  that  had.  I  was  beginning  to  have  a  little  doubt 
upon  the  subject  at  that  time,  but  the  sermon  seemed  as  if  it 
had  been  prepared  in  a  very  sensible,  scientific,  patriotic  and 
politic  way  to  give  the  boys  enthusiasm.  It  was  without  doubt 
all  prearranged,  although  we  did  not  then  understand  it.  At 


76  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

any  rate,  the  sermon  had  a  very  fine  effect,  and  as  the  church 
was  large,  and  all  the  girls  in  town  were  there,  the  boys  inarched 
out  very  pompously  and  felt  that  they  were  going  either  down  to 
the  tropics  or  to  Heaven,  and  it  was  safe  either  way. 

Scarcely  had  the  Zouave  company  tendered  their  services 
to  the  governor,  than,  lo!  and  behold,  it  transpired  that  the 
German  company  in  our -city  had  tendered  theirs  two  months 
before.  They  had  been  organized  by  themselves.  It  was  a 
surprise  to  outsiders,  but  they  in  their  armory  and  Turner 
lodges  had  been  discussing  the  matter  secretly,  and  it  seemed 
that  they  had  kept  themselves  in  touch  with  everything.  They 
got  ahead  of  us.  The  German  company  was  organized  under 
an  old  German  officer  as  captain;  not  a  very  old  man,  either, 
but  I  may  say  here  one  of  the  best  men  and  one  of  the  bravest 
officers  I  ever  knew.  He  became  a  brigadier  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  was  idolized  by  everybody  who  knew  him.  He  was  a 
thorough  lover  of  liberty,  a  brave  and  capable  man.  So  that 
from  our  little  town  two  companies  went  who  rivaled  each 
other,  and  I  may  say  that  two  hundred  better  men  in  physique 
and  general  capability  never  were  organized.  Every  trade 
that  could  be  mentioned,  almost,  was  represented  in  those  two 
companies.  The  Irish  militia  company  all  at  once  disappeared 
from  view;  I  do  not  think  that  it  ever  met  any  more.  Their 
sentiments  at  that  time  were  in  antagonism  to  that  of  the  two 
companies  referred  to,  but  it  is  just  to  say  that  all  of  those, 
perhaps  every  one  of  them,  of  the  Irish  militia  company  that 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  77 

was  capable  of  admission  to  the  service,  ultimately  joined.  I 
remember  several  of  them  afterwards;  one  of  whom,  a  young 
man  for  whom  I  had  a  great  liking,  was  shot  through  the  chest 
with  an  ounce  ball  at  Shiloh,  and  recovered  to  live  many  years 
thereafter. 

This  brings  us  up  to  the  period  of  the  acceptance  of  our  serv 
ices,  and  is  really  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  Company  UE." 


CHAPTER  8. 

State  Acceptance. — April  20th. — Music  of  the  Union. — The  Girls. — The 
Uniform. — The  Embarkation. — The  Rendezvous. — Keokuk. — The  Va 
cant  Hotel. — The  Saloon. — Our  Muskets. — Regimental  Camp. — Prac 
tice. — The  Recoil. — The  Silver  Dimes. — Secession  Sentiment. — Chickens. 
— Corporal  Bill. — Balls. — Cotillions. — Dances. 

On  April  20,  1861,  our  company  was  completely  organized, 
and  the  State  went  through  the  process  of  accepting  us.  Then 
we  were  subject  to  State  pay — seven  dollars  per  month — and 
our  enlistment  for  three  months  began  to  run.  Our  time  would 
thus  expire  July  20th.  Before  we  were  accepted  a  couple  of 
our  men  changed  their  views  and  politics,  and  became  "secesh" 
and  would  not  go  in.  It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  under 
steady  disloyal  persuasion  a  young  man  here  and  there  should 
yield.  There  were  hundreds  of  open  secessionists  and  hundreds 
of  "Southern  sympathizers,"  and  they  were  all  at  work  doing 
what  they  could  to  tie  the  hands  of  the  North  and  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  Union.  They  shouted  loudly,  "No  coercion!"  But, 
for  the  two  who  went  out  there  were  others  who  wanted  in- 
young  men  who  had  no  faint  hearts.  On  one  occasion  when 
we  were  in  line  a  young  man  from  the  outside,  who  was  a  stran 
ger,  walked  up  to  our  line  and  offered  one  of  the  boys  of  the  com 
pany  a  twenty-dollar  gold-piece1  if  the  latter  would  step  out  and 
let  him  in  the  place.  The  recruit  handed  the  gold-piece  back 
and  said,  "I  would  see  you  in  hell  further  than  a  pigeon  could 
fly  in  a  week." 

(78) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  79 

Choatc,  in  1855,  had  invented  the  phrase,  "Keep  step  to  the 
music  of  the  Union."  The  expression  was  now  everywhere 
and  all  the  time  quoted,  and  the  new  soldiers  whenever  they 
marched  felt  that  they  were  keeping  step  to  the  music  of  the 
Union. 

And  the  girls, — the  Lord  bless  them, — they  were  many  and 
beautiful,  for  they  were  our  sisters  and  our  sweethearts.  We 
had  lots  of  each.  Only  about  one-half  of  our  company  had 
uniforms,  and  being  Zouave1  uniforms  they  were  pronounced 
by  our  Mexican  War  veteran  critics  as  unfit.  The  Government 
had  no  uniforms  to  give  us,  so  the  girls,  organized  as  a  society, 
undertook  the  job  of  making  an  outfit,  and  they  had  to  make 
it  the  way  they  wanted  it.  They  had  to  have  some  art  and 
some  style  put  into  it  so  that  we  would  be  adorned  as  well  as 
uniformed.  They  got  up  our  uniforms.  The  coat,  as  made, 
was  a  hunting-frock  of  the  pioneer  Daniel  Boone  type,  fitting 
closely  at  the  neck,  cuff  and  belt,  but  full  of  surplusage  every 
where  else.  It  was -made  of  a  fluffy,  fuzzy,  open-woven,  azure- 
gray  cloth,  the  like  of  which  I  had  never  seen  before  and  have 
never  seen  since.  The  cuff,  collar  and  a  band  up  and  down  the 
breast  were  flannel  of  a  beautiful  Venetian  red,  insuring  a  good 
target.  Trowsers  of  a  heavy  buckskin  type  and  color.  Black 
felt  hunting-hat,  with  a  brilliant  red-ribbon  cockade.  The 
word  "dude"  had  not  then  been  invented. 

When  we  were  in  our  uniform  our  company  was  probably  the 
prettiest-looking  lot  of  young  men  who  ever  stood  up  in  a  row. 
When  we  afterwards  got  into  the  field  our  officers  made  us  tear 


80  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

off  the  rod  trimmings  because  they  were  too  conspicuous.  The 
uniform  went  to  pieces  very  fast  under  hard  usage;  but  the 
girls  had  made  it,  we  were  proud  to  wear  it,  it  was  all  we  had, 
and  in  fact  all  we  wanted.  We  now  began  looking  for  the 
foe;  "the  foe"  was  what  we  were  after. 

Orders  came  to  go  to  Keokuk  as  the  place  of  rendezvous. 
We  had  been  drilling  constantly  day  and  night.  Officers  had 
been  giving  the  non-commissioned  officers  teaching,  in  class, 
every  day;  and  the  company  believed  it  was  ready  for  the 
battle-field.  So  on  the  afternoon  of  May  7,  1861,  we  marched 
down  the  street  to  the  steamboat,  "Kate  Cassel."  The  fife 
and  drum  played  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind  Me,"  and  a  packed 
mob  on  each  side  of  the  street  was  either  cheering  or  scoffing. 
The  crowd  was  with  us  mostly,  but  there  were  gangs  who  were 
not,  and  some  yelled  "Rats!"  and  "Abolition!"  and  other 
hostile  slang.  The  company  came  near  going  to  pieces  more 
than  once  during  the  march,  with  a  desire  to  capture  and  pun 
ish  some  one.  But  the  officers  said,  "Steady,"  "Steady," 
and  we  kept  in  ranks.  The  girls  were  all  out,  cheering  and 
waving  parasols,  and  it  made  the  occasion  a  great  one  for  us. 
Each  man  had  a  carpet-sack  in  which,  besides  a  lot  of  other 
things,  were  some  neckties,  and  a  shaving-mug,  and  a  Bible, 
and  some  home-made  socks,  and  some  photographs,  and  a  lot 
of  some  other  things  which  the  girls  had  loaded  him  up  with. 
Statesmen  control  the  destinies  of  nations  during  peace — the 
girls  during  war. 

Before  the  march  to  the  steamboat,  one  evening  at  a  party, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  81 

a  young  lady  turned  from  the  piano  and  said  to  me,  "You  are 
not  going  to  go  and  fight  for  old  Ape  Lincoln,  arc  you?1'  To 
substitute  Ape  for  Abe  was  one  of  the  witticisms  of  the  day, 
and  I  have  heard  more  than  one  public  speaker  say  that  one 
look  at  the  "ugly  old  rail-splitter"  would  convince  any  man 
that  "APE"  was  the  right  name.  The  young  lady  above  re 
ferred  to,  after  the  war,  although  of  Southern  birth,  married  a 
Union  soldier,  and  as  his  widow  is  now,  at  the  time  this  is  writ 
ten,  living  off  his  pension. 

The  march  down  to  the  steamboat  was  a  promise  and  a 
prophecy.  No  three-months  soldiers  of  the  war  had  as  peril 
ous,  toilsome  and  distressful  time.  None  came  out  with  a 
better  reputation,  as  we  shall  see. 

Down  on  the  steamboat  we  sang,  "Dixie"-— the  original 
"Dixie."  It  was  as  follows: 

I  wish  I  was  in  dc  land  ob  cotton, 
Cinnamon  seed  and  sandy  bottom; 

Look  away!    Look  away!  Look  away! 
In  Dixie  land  where  I  was  born  in, 
Early  on  a  frosty  mornin'; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 
Den  I  wish  I  was  in  Dixie. 

Hooray!    Hooray! 
In  Dixie  land  I'll  take  my  stand, 
To  lib  and  die  in  Dixie, 

Away !    Away ! 
Away  down  South  in  Dixie! 

Old  missus  marry  "  Will-de-weaber," 
Will  in  in  was  a  gay  deeeaber; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 
But  when  he  put  him  arm  around  'or, 
He  smiled  as  fierce  as  a  forty-pounder; 

Look  away!    Look  away!   Look  away! 


82  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

His  face  was  as  sharp  as  a  butcher's  cleaber, 
But  dat  ting  did  not  seem  to  greab  'er: 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 
Old  missus  acted  de  foolish  part, 
And  died  for  a  man  dat  broke  her  heart; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 

Now  here's  a  health  to  de  next  old  missus, 
And  all  de  gals  dat  wants  to  kiss  us ; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 
But  if  you  want  to  drive  away  sorrow, 
Come  and  hear  dis  song  tomorrow; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 

Dar's  buckwheat  cakes  and  Injen  batter, 
Makes  you  fat  and  a  little  fatter; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 
Den  hoe  it  down  and  scratch  de  grabble, 
To  Dixie's  land  I'm  bound  to  trabble; 

Look  away!    Look  away!    Look  away! 

The  rendezvous  of  our  regiment  was  fixed  at  Keokuk,  Iowa, 
and  thither  we  went,  by  steamboat.  We  had  left  our  guns 
back  in  the  armory  for  a  new  set  of  boys  to  take  charge  of  and 
hold  the  towTn.  The  "secesh"  were  numerous  and  bitter, 
rumors  of  a  raid  from  Missouri  were  rife,  and  there  was  much 
apprehension  that  some  mounted  gang  might  make  a  foray, 
or  that  some  gang  of  incendiaries  might  burn  the  town,  or  at 
least  do  violence  to  some  prominent  Abolitionist  or  "war  Re 
publican,"  or  to  his  property.  Nor  were  the  apprehensions 
without  basis;  these  injuries  were  done;  men  were  assaulted 
at  night  and  buildings  and  property  fired.  The  boys  whom 
we  left  behind  had  considerable  to  do;  they  worked  all  day 
and  did  guard  duty  at  night  without  pay,  but  it  made  soldiers 
out  of  them  very  rapidly.  They  soon  followed  us  to  the  field. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  83 

When  our  boat  arrived  at  Keokuk  we  organized  on  the  levee/ 
called  the  roll  and  counted  off.  While  this  was  going  on  the 
people  on  the  steamboats  at  the  wharf  hooted  and  j cored  at  us. 
Several  steamboats  were  there,  and  their  crews  and  passengers 
numbered  hundreds,  and  thoy  all  seemed  to  be  "secesh."  We 
were  unarmed  and  under  the  circumstances  helpless,  so  we  said 
nothing  and  laid  it  up  against  them.  It  became  impressed 
upon  us  afterwards  that  anybody  connected  with  a  steamboat 
was,  ipso  facto,  a  "rebel."  Our  experience  on  the  Keokuk  wharf 
was  exceedingly  galling,  and  we  had  no  way  of  fighting  back 
without  acting  unsoldierly.  Our  First  Lieutenant,  of  the  Mex 
ican  War,  had  drummed  and  drilled  and  ground  it  into  us  that 
on  all  occasions  and  under  all  circumstances  we  must  act  "sol 
dierly."  It  transpired  that  by  the  time  we  reached  the  regi 
mental  rendezvous  we  all  and  each  had  a  bad  case  of  swell- 
head,  in  supposing  ourselves  "soldierly." 

We  marched  up  the  street  to  the  tune  of  "The  Girl  I  Left 
Behind  Me."  This  was  our  favorite  tune,  and  it  was  no  joke. 
The  streets  were  thronged,  and  the  cheering  and  the  hooting 
were  about  equally  divided.  The  hooters  were  unfriendly, 
and  were  generally  at  windows  and  upon  roofs;  we  evened  up 
with  some  of  them  afterwards. 

The  city  of  Keokuk  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak  was  the 
victim  of  arrested  development.  It  had  been  wonderfully 
boomed  and  overbuilt.  The  development  of  the  locomotive 
had  killed  the  town.  River  navigation  had  in  the  prior  years 
been  deemed  so  important  that  the  Government  had  spent 


84  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

millions  in  putting  dams  and  locks  into  the  Dos  Moines  river, 
and,  as  the  rival  of  St.  Louis  and  Chicago,  great  sums  had  been 
spent  there  in  ground-lots  and  buildings  with  the  hope  and  under 
the  hallucination  that  Keokuk  would  be  the  greatest  city  on 
the  Mississippi  river.  The  town  site  projected  down  near  Mis 
souri,  from  which  it  was  necessary  that  the  town  should  be  now 
guarded,  and  therefore  it  was  made  the  place  of  State  ren 
dezvous.  We  were  marched  up  the  principal  street  and  up  into 
the  third  story  of  a  large  vacant  brick  building.  This  was 
on  May  7,  1861.  Boards  were  put  up  on  the  floor  eight  feet 
from  the  wall  and  the  inclosure  filled  with  hay,  and  each  man 
was  given  a  pair  of  blankets.  The  athletic  drilling  of  the 
company  and  its  sturdy,  even  marching  up  and  down  the 
stairs,  soon  made  mischief  for  the  building,  and  it  cracked  from 
top  to  bottom,  and  in  a  few  days  we  were  moved  down  to  one 
of  the  big  vacant  hotels  of  the  town.  The  evening  before  wre 
moved  one  of  our  men  who  went  into  a  saloon  to  get  a  drink 
was  "doped."  We  thought  he  had  developed  a  case  of  "de 
lirium  trcmcns."  He  slept  on  the  floor  in  the  hay  next  to  me, 
and  I  put  in  almost  all  of  the  night  holding  him  down,  with 
assistance  from  others.  He  was  very  strong,  and  wore  me  out ; 
he  was  crazy;  the  boys  kept  putting  cold  water  on  his  head, 
and  in  the  morning  he  was  able  to  talk  some.  Corporal  Churu- 
busco  (of  whom  I  shall  speak  more  hereafter)  began  to  under 
stand  the  situation,  and  went  down-town  and  inquired  into 
the  loyalty  of  the  saloon-keeper  and  found  it  badly  "Secesh," 
and  thereupon  a  detachment  of  us  went  down  and  tried  to  find 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  85 


the  man  at  his  saloon.  He  was  not  in,  so  we  smashed  up  every 
thing,  broke  out  all  of  the  doors  and  windows,  and  posted  up  a 
reward  of  $1000  for  his  arrest.  The  incident  taught  us  to  be 
careful,  and  we  did  our  drinking  in  saloons  kept  by  Germans; 
they  were  always  square  and  loyal.  When  I  say  "our  drink 
ing"  I  mean  the  company.  I  mostly  kept  out,  and  there  was 
in  fact  but  little  of  it  done  by  our  company. 

We  were  armed  the  day  after  we  moved  into  the  vacant  hotel. 
I  always  enjoy  the  recollection  of  the  musket  which  I  got. 
What  became  of  it  will  be  told  a  good  ways  further  on.  It  was 
an  old-fashioned,  long,  big,  heavy,  sturdy  weapon,  and  nothing 
could  out-kick  it  but  a  Government  mule.  The  musket  bore 
the  stamp  of  "U.  S.  1829,"  and  had  been  a  flint-lock  altered 
over  into  a  percussion.  Our  whole  regiment  was  armed  with 
these  old-fashioned  guns.  They  had  been  gathered  up,  of  dif 
ferent  years  of  construction,  cleaned  out,  the  flint-lock  hole  in 
the  side  of  the  barrel  filled  with  brass,  a  percussion-cap  fixture 
set  on,  and  an  old-fashioned  bayonet  fitted  to  it.  It  shows 
what  the  condition  of  our  Government  was  at  that  time.  The 
treason  that  the  Southern  oligarchy  had  for  years  been  planning, 
had  filled  the  Southern  arsenals  and  shipyards  with  the  best, 
and  had  given  the  South  a  running  start  in  the  game  of  war. 
And  they  held  it  for  a  while;  should  have  held  it  longer.  These 
muskets  of  ours  were  heavier  and  different  from  the  guns  we 
had  practiced  with.  We  were  immediately  started  at  drilling 
with  the  new  ones, — "Load  in  nine  times — Load."  In  our  com 
pany  drill  and  marching  we  were  drilled  on  the  double-quick 


86  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

theory;  that  Is,  every  movement  was  on  the  run,  and  running 
and  carrying  that  musket  was  a  good  deal  of  work.  Never 
theless  we  drilled  three  hours  in  the  morning  and  three  hours 
in  the  afternoon,  carrying  those  muskets,  and  it  broke  down 
several  of  our  men,  so  that  they  had  to  be  dropped.  We  were 
drilled  running  all  over  the  country,  jumping  ditches  and  climb 
ing  fences.  One  day  in  jumping  a  ditch  one  of  our  best  boys 
could  not  quite  make  it  with  the  gun,  and  he  strained  himself 
so  that  he  was  taken  to  the  hospital,  where  he  died.  Although 
the  drill  was  hard,  it  was  exciting.  There  were  many  humor 
ous  accidents,  and  the  boys  got  hardened  up  into  whalebone. 
But  we  had  not  yet  been  accepted  by  the  United  States. 

The  regiment  finally,  as  to  all  of  the  companies,  arrived  in 
Keokuk,  and  we  all  went  into  camp  upon  the  plateau  above 
the  town  overlooking  the  Mississippi  river.  Here  we  drilled 
regimental  drill  unceasingly.  Here  we  drew  a  lot  of  ammu 
nition,  blank  cartridges  and  "buck  and  ball,"  and  practiced  a 
little  shooting.  "Buck  and  ball"  meant  one  large  round  ball 
and  three  large  buckshot  in  one  cartridge.  The  guns  had  no 
rear  sight,  only  a  notch,  and  we  had  to  tinker  them  and  change 
the  front  sight  so  as  to  get  an  approximation.  The  guns  which 
the  "Secesh"  had,  new  Springfield  muskets,  were  rifled  and  had 
fine  sights  and  could  be  adjusted  for  distances.  Ours  could  not 
be  adjusted  and  were  smooth-bore,  and  we  could  not  make  them 
shoot  straight.  But  we  understood  guns  and  could  get  as  close 
to  it  as  anybody  could,  or  as  the  gun  itself  could  be  made  to  go. 
Corporal  Churubusco  had  been  in  the  Mexican  War  and  knew 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFAXTRY.  87 


all  about  war,  as  he  said,  and  we  supposed.  Drill,  equipment 
and  logistics  were  his  constant  themes,  and  we  hung  upon  his 
precepts  for  weeks,  even  until  we  got  into  the  field  and  found 
out  how  little  he  knew.  Well,  Corporal  Churubusco  said  that 
what  made  a  gun  kick, — was  what  every  old  Mexican  soldier 
knew, — there  was  space  in  the  barrel  behind  the  touchhole,— 
that  the  fire  from  the  cap  went  into  the  barrel  too  far  forward. 
We  then  proceeded  to  fill  in  the  barrel  at  the  bottom,  according 
to  his  suggestions.  A  silver  dime  just  fitted  the  barrel,  but  silver 
dimes  had  disappeared  from  circulation.  Nevertheless,  I  man 
aged  to  get  one  and  then  another  and  then  another,  until  I 
had  rammed  down  six  of  them.  But  the  gun  kicked  apparently 
as  hard  as  ever,  and  then  I  wanted  the  silver  out, — that  is,  I 
wanted  my  money  back, — but  that  was  an  impossibility:  the 
discharges  had  swaged  the  silver  down  and  brazed  it  to  the  bar 
rel.  The  gun  continued  to  kick  like  " sixty,"  (the  number  of 
cents  which  I  had  rammed  down.)  We  all  named  our  guns; 
the  boys  generally  named  them  after  their  pet  girls, — it  was 
"Hannah,"  or  "Mary  Jane,"  or  something  else.  I  named  mine 
"Silver  Sue." 

The  Secession  Sentiment  in  Keokuk  was  open  and  appar 
ently  defiant,  and  as  the  boys  were  all  spoiling  for  a  fight  they 
put  in  their  odds  and  ends  of  time  going  to  town  and  picking 
fights  with  people  of  that  sentiment.  I  remember  a  grocery  man 
who  was  very  bitter,  and  three  of  the  boys  hired  a  speedy  wagon 
and  went  down  to  his  store  and  picked  up  a  large  crate  of  live 
chickens,  loaded  it  in  and  drove  off.  Another  prominent  citizen 


THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


was  very  disloyal  and  bitter;  the  boys  got  a  U.  S.  flag  and  pole 
and  a  ladder  and  fixed  the  flag  upon  the  top  of  his  house.  The 
owner  said  that  he  would  tear  "The  damned  thing"  down;  the 
boys  said  that  then  they  would  tear  his  "damned"  house  down. 
As  a  fact,  the  "Secesh"  element  showed  a  vicious  hatred  to  the 
flag.  The  question  which  then  puzzled  us  was  why  a  flag  of 
Virginian  origin  should  be  so  hated  by  Virginians  just  because 
they  did  not  like  somebody.  A  Keokuk  weekly  paper  one  day 
had  a  badly  disloyal  editorial ,  and  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
preparations  the  South  had,  and  was  making,  to  go  to  wrar, 
and  how  well  prepared  they  were.  The  editor  wras  hunting 
trouble,  and  some  of  the  boys  gave  it  to  him. 

The  Southern  States  were  ready  and  fully  prepared  for  war. 
They  were  boastful  and  arrogant.  They  expected  and  intended 
to  succeed.  It  is  strange  they  did  not.  Northern  "Copper 
head"  papers  were  filled  with  laudation  of  the  South,  its  valor 
and  readiness, — and  threw  or  tried  to  throw  a  scare  into  the 
Northern  public  every  day  of  the  week. 

The  Mobile  Advertiser  said,  on  the  24th  of  April,  1861 : 

"There  are  now,  as  nearly  as  can  be  estimated,  upwards  of 
100,000  organized  and  armed  men  in  the  seven  Confederate 
States,  under  orders  or  anxiously  awaiting  them,  to  spring  to 
the  post  of  danger  at  the  word  of  Jefferson  Davis.  Within  eight 
days'  time,  at  the  farthest,  he  can  concentrate  60,000  of  these 
men — the  best  soldiers  in  the  world — at  any  point  on  the  North 
ern  border,  and  hurl  this  splendid  army  like  an  avalanche  upon 
the  foe.  If  the  battle-ground  be  in  Virginia  or  Maryland,  as 
it  probably  will,  the  grand  army  of  the  Confederacy  will  be 
doubled  or  trebled  by  the  rallying  hosts  of  those  States.  We 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  89 

have  reason  to  believe  that  hundreds  of  companies  are  now  on 
the  move,  or  will  be  within  twenty-four  hours, — all  bound  some 
where." 

There  was  a  very  violent  Southern  sympathizer  who  lived 
about  one  mile  from  camp,  whose  name  I  will  call  Robb;  the 
boys  were  talking  about  what  they  would  or  ought  to  do  with 
him.  One  evening  I  was  on  guard  around  the  camp  about  five 
hundred  feet  from  the  nearest  tent,  and  on  the  edge  of  some 
woods.  About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  while  I  was  walking 
a  lonesome  beat  I  heard  a  noise  in  the  woods,  and  kneeling 
down  behind  a  bush  I  watched  and  waited.  It  was  very  dark, 
and  a  big  form  came  up  towards  where  I  was.  I  rose  and  put 
a  bayonet  up  in  front  of  a  man  with  a  big  bundle  on  his  back. 
It  was  Corporal  Churubusco  with  a  blanket  wrapping  up  seven 
teen  chickens,  mostly  old  hens.  He  wanted  to  go  through; 
he  pleaded;  he  said  he  had  been  out  to  visit  "Old  Robb,"  and 
had  killed  two  dogs  and  taken  every  chicken  in  the  henhouse. 
I  held  him  up  and  called  the  "Corporal  of  the  guard."  At 
the  guard-house  they  allowed  him  three.  My  relations  after 
that  with  the  Corporal  were  very  much  strained,  until  a  rough- 
and-tumble  event  occurred  in  which  the  corporal  came  out  second 
best,  and  after  that  he  got  along  with  me  better.  The  history 
of  my  company  is  the  history  of  each  company  at  Keokuk. 
Every  company  had  its  best  man,  its  best  wrestler,  its  best 
runner,  its  champion.  Our  company  had  the  best  boxer,  who 
in  turn  was  also  about  the  best  wrestler;  he  was  a  Hercules, 
a  machinist  from  a  foundry.  He  was  a  good-natured,  pleasant 


90  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

fellow,  but  a  terrible  man  in  a  fist  fight.  He  was  a  corporal, 
and  we  called  him  " Corporal  Bill."  I  shall  speak  of  him  later. 
A  grand  ball  was  given  at  the  City  of  Fort  Madison  a  few 
miles  up  the  river,  and  I  was  invited  to  it.  It  was  a  typical 
ball  of  the  times.  I  may  digress  here  to  speak  a  little  of  the 
dancing  of  the  period.  The  pioneer  dances  were  entirely  "  square 
cotillions,"  with  an  occasional  " country  dance"  (which  pedan 
tic  philologists  have  changed  to  "contra  dances"  as  they  have 
changed  the  old-fashioned  welch-rabbit  to  "rarebit").  The 
"cotillion,"  otherwise  called  the  "quadrille,"  was  to  the  "coun 
try  dance"  in  favor  as  nine  to  one.  The  country  dance  was 
executed  in  two  long  lines;  it  was  more  of  an  open-air  dance, 
because  it  could  be  performed  on  the  sod.  Everybody  under 
stood  the  cotillion.  The  figures  were  very  numerous.  Every 
town  and  village  had  persons  who  could  teach  them.  New 
figures  were  continually  invented,  and  traveling  dancing  teachers 
kept  the  towns  instructed.  In  addition  to  this  the  new  figures 
were  printed  and  illustrated  in  pamphlets  on  the  subject,  and 
were  described  in  the  newspapers.  Every  town  and  village 
had  "callers"  who  could  call  and  explain  the  figures,  old  and 
new.  They  were  the  pets  of  society,  and  generally  first-class 
young  men  who  could  go  anywhere  and  be  received  anywhere. 
The  effect  of  the  German  immigration  upon  this  American  state 
of  society  was  very  marked.  The  Germans  who  came  were 
educated  and  intelligent;  they  had  their  "round  dances "- 
the  waltz,  polka,  and  many  others.  The  American  parent  did 
not  like  these  dances;  they  were  too  intimate,  too  familiar. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  91 

The  parent  forbade  the  child  to  dance  any  of  the  "  Dutch  dances/' 
but  the  old-fashioned  parent  could  not  control  the  situation. 
The  German  had  come  to  stay,  and  so  had  his  dances.  The 
pulpit,  which  in  those  days  found  fault  with  every  amusement 
that  it  did  not  originate  or  control,  denounced  the  German  dances 
with  fierce  phrases.  The  subserviency  of  the  church  member 
ship  to  the  pulpit  in  those  days  was  something  that  is  very  dif 
ficult  now  to  understand.  The  attack  on  the  German  dances 
lasted  through  years;  they  were  called  immodest,  and  the  di 
version  of  infidels.  But  the  German  and  his  dances  were  irre 
sistible. 

In  a  furtive  way  the  German  dances  spread  among  the  Amer 
icans.  That  kind  of  dancing  was  not  born  into  them,  and  so 
had  to  be  taught.  Then  came  a  compromise  in  society,  a  com 
bination  of  the  two  styles.  The  German  modified  the  "  cotil 
lion,"  and  we  had  the  waltz  quadrille,  and  the  polka  quadrille, 
and  many  others;  for  instance,  the  " octagon  schottische  qua 
drille."  There  was  never  anything  as  intricate  or  delightful  ever 
invented  as  the  dances  of  that  period.  They  required  quick 
ness,  brightness,  attention,  and  grace.  Each  of  the  girls  and 
many  of  the  boys,  of  that  period,  had  them  all. 

It  was  at  this  Fort  Madison  dance  that  I  first  saw  the  "New 
Catholic."  It  was  a  pantomime  waltz  quadrille.  Those  were  the 
days  when  the  dancing-master  traveled  with  his  wife  from  city 
to  city  and  made  money,  organized  bliss,  and  supplied  the  com 
munities  with  ecstasy.  From  the  Fort  Madison  dance  I  sadly 
returned  to  Keokuk. 


CHAPTER  9. 

Kcokuk. —  Constant  Drill. —  The  Officers. —  The  Cooks. —  Sick  Men. —  Poi 
soned  Pies. — Hospital. — Spies. — Missouri  Disturbances. — Steamboat  and 
Flag. — Floyd's  Nephew. — Election  of  Colonel. — Lieutenant-Colonel. — 
Major. — Regimental  Officers. — Laundry. — Muster-in. — May  14,  1861. — 
Personal  Dissatisfaction. — Old  Mace. — Chicken  Mess,  No.  1. 

Our  drill  in  camp  was  constant.  We  learned  the  bugle-calls; 
we  took  down  our  tents,  put  them  in  wagons,  hauled  them 
around  and  put  them  up  again,  so  as  to  learn  speed.  Every 
thing  seemed  to  go  all  right  except  the  commissary  department. 
Our  cooks  did  not  know  how  to  cook.  Rations  w^ere  wasted, 
and  we  thought  that  the  commissary  was  stealing  from  us. 
Careless  cooks  spoiled  much  food,  and  twenty  per  cent  of  the 
men  went  on  the  sick  list.  Our  officers  were  mostly  inefficient, 
and  did  not  know  how  to  take  care  of  their  men.  Our  company 
became  dissatisfied,  and  was  about  half  of  the  time  on  the  edge 
of  a  mutiny.  Soldiering  is  a  profession;  men  must  learn  first 
to  take  care  of  themselves  and  then  to  take  care  of  one  another. 
Officers  must  learn  to  take  care  of  their  men  and  to  make  the 
men  take  care  of  themselves,  and  of  one  another.  The  officers 
of  our  regiment  got  new  gold-mounted  uniforms,  and  most  of 
them  swelled  around  without  any  thought  that  they  had  any 
duties  or  responsibilities.  Our  First  Lieutenant  was  a  good  of 
ficer;  the  other  two  were  of  no  account.  Most  of  the  company 
officers  played  billiards  down-town,  attended  balls  and  parties, 

(92) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  93 


and  were  on  exhibition.  They  did  not  seem  to  think  they  had 
anything  to  do  except  to  strut.  The  cooking  became  intolerable 
and  the  officers  insufferable.  When  complaint  was  made  to 
the  officers  they  made  light  of  everything  and  rectified  nothing. 
Every  soldier  in  the  company  finally  learned  how  to  cook.  I 
sent  home  for  money,  and  managed  to  get  something  to  eat  oc 
casionally.  Once  our  cooks  went  on  a  drunk  for  two  days,  and 
we  had  a  tough  time  of  it.  They  would  have  been  undoubt 
edly  punished,  but  our  captain  went  on  a  simultaneous  drunk 
for  three  days,  and  he  felt  constrained  to  be  charitable.  Our 
First  Lieutenant  was  all  that  held  our  company  together;  he 
had  been  in  the  Mexican  War,  as  before  stated,  and  had  some 
ideals.  (He  afterwards  made  a  splendid  reputation  as  a  colo 
nel  of  another  Iowa  regiment.)  Other  companies  fared  as  we 
did.  There  were  a  few  good,  conscientious  officers,  but'  only  a 
few.  I  mention  these  things  to  show  what  will  always  be  the 
first  history  of  a  volunteer  company  in  any  war.  The  men  will 
always  get  sick  from  bad  cooking,  and  the  officers,  four  out  of 
five,  will  always  shirk  their  duty.  The  officers  who  stay  in 
camp  and  make  the  men  take  care  of  themselves,  who  look  after 
the  clothing  of  their  men,  who  make  the  cooks  do  their  duty  or 
tie  them  up  by  the  thumbs, — these  officers  save  the  lives  of 
their  men  and  eventually  get  their  respect,  and  obtain  rank. 
Such  officers,  however,  are  few  in  the  beginning,  and  must  gen 
erally  come  up  from  the  bottom.  A  man,  in  order  that  he  may 
take  care  of  others,  must  have  been  neglected  himself. 

A  number  of  the  sick  men  were  pronounced  by  the  doctors  to 


94  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

have  been  poisoned.  There  were  those  in  the  city  who  would 
not  hesitate  to  make  away  with  a  soldier  by  any  means.  Guards 
were  put  on  the  wells  and  our  water-supply.  Poison  was  in 
pies  that  were  sold  by  traveling  vendors  of  stuff.  I  struck  one 
of  these  pies;  I  ate  a  part,  and  not  liking  the  illy-disguised 
taste  threw  the  balance  away.  I  was  taken  to  the  hospital  down 
town  and  given  some  heroic  treatment.  In  a  couple  of  days  I 
was  able  to  walk  a  little  around  the  hospital.  While  spying 
around  the  great  building  I  saw  through  a  half-open  door  the 
raw  leg  of  a  man  hung  up  on  the  wall;  it  was  dripping 
blood;  it  had  been  taken  off  at  the  pelvic  joint,  and  was  hanging 
up  by  the  tendon  of  the  heel.  The  sight  had  an  instantaneous 
therapeutic  effect;  I  was  cured;  I  called  a  hack  and  went  out 
to  camp.  Some  of  the  boys  did  my  duty  for  a  couple  of  days, 
and  I  never  was  in  the  hospital  again.  It  was  noticed  by  the 
boys  that  those  \vho  sold  unwholesome  articles  were  never  seen 
around  camp  again.  I  looked  for  the  man  who  sold  me  the  pie, 
but  never  saw  him  afterwards. 

Rumors  of  Rebel  invasion  of  Iowa  were  of  hourly  occurrence. 
We  wanted  to  get  into  the  field,  but  it  was  constantly  reported 
that  we  would  never  leave  Keokuk.  A  second  and  a  third  Iowa 
regiment  had  been  nearly  raised;  they  were  to  be  three-year 
regiments.  Northern  Missouri  was  ablaze  with  secession.  It 
looked  as  if  we  would  be  doing  well  if  we  kept  the  enemy  off 
from  Iowa  soil.  A  steamboat  came  up  from  the  south;  it  bore 
no  flag.  We  went  down  and  took  possession  of  the  boat  and 
made  the  captain  run  up  the  American  flag.  Refugees  from  Mis- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  95 

souri  came  into  our  camp  and  told  of  great  wrongs  over  in  Mis 
souri,  and  how  thousands  of  rebels  were  under  arms,  and  how 
they  talked  of  coming  over  and  taking  us  in.  Stories  of  mur 
ders  and  assassinations  came  in  daily  groups.  We  were  told 
that  our  camp  was  full  of  spies.  This  turned  out  to  be  true, 
for  afterwards  men  of  one  of  our  companies  in  Missouri  cap 
tured  a  man  that  was  recognized  as  a  pie-seller  in  our  Keokuk 
camp.  Guards  were  sent  out  at  night  to  various  places  over 
and  near  the  town.  We  felt  that  the  war  had  begun,  and  we 
hungered  to  show  what  the  " mudsills"  could  do. 

One  evening  we  heard  that  a  nephew  of  the  rebel  Floyd  who 
had  been  Secretary  of  War,  and  one  of  the  greatest  scoundrels 
in  America,  was  in  the  city.  Several  of  us  made  a  plan  to  take 
him  in;  so  after  nightfall  we  "ran"  the  guard  and  went  to  the 
house  and  surrounded  it  and  searched  it,  about  one  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  but  the  young  man  had  got  away.  There  were  spies 
enough,  in  the  camp  and  out,  to  have  given  him  the  word. 
History  shows  but  few  greater  rogues  than  this  ex-Secretary 
Floyd,  who  plotted  treason  every  minute  he  was  in  office; 
and  Buchanan,  if  he  had  not  been  an  old  grandmother,  would 
have  had  Floyd  in  prison,  with  stripes  on,  at  hard  labor.  Yet 
since  the  war  he  seems  to  have  been  vindicated  to  the  extent 
that  it  is  said  he  worked  "for  what  he  thought  was  right." 
The  "Lost  Cause"  was  only  unsuccessful  ambition,  and  it  paid 
the  penalty.  It  cannot  be  galvanized  by  time  or  deeds  into 
anything  else  than  an  ill-advised  and  unsuccessful  plot  on  the 
part  of  the  leaders.  We  regretted  that  we  could  not  get  the 


96  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

nephew  of  Floyd  and  take  him  into  camp,  and  make  him  hold 
up  his  hand  and  swear  allegiance  to  the  flag.  The  "Secesh" 
hated  the  flag  much  more  than  the  Devil  was  ever  charged  with 
hating  holy  water.  Speaking  about  the  steamboat :  it  was  a  funny 
thing  that  when  we  made  the  captain  of  the  boat  run  up  the 
American  flag,  the  boat  having  been  thus  delayed  in  loading,  we 
all  sang  " Dixie"  and  loaded  up  his  freight,  and  started  him  off 
with  his  flag  flying.  The  song  of  " Dixie7'  had  been  in  vogue 
for  a  couple  of  years ;  when  we  got  into  the  field  afterwards  we 
shot  at  any  man  who  sang  "Dixie." 

On  May  llth  we  Elected  a  Colonel,  a  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
and  a  Major.  What  influences  brought  about  the  selection  of 
the  candidates  for  the  field  offices  I  never  could  know  or  under 
stand.  The  regiment  voted  for  them,  or  supposed  it  did.  Our 
Captain  told  the  company  that  he  had  promised  how  the  com 
pany  would  go,  and  he  wanted  us  to  go  that  way — and  we  did. 
But  it  was  all  manipulated  from  the  outside.  Our  selection 
was  as  follows : 

For  Colonel  we  got  the  clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  Dubuque 
county,  a  man  of  30;  he  had  been  an  insurance  agent  and  a 
real-estate  agent,  and  had  been  for  several  years  a  local,  petty 
all-around  politician,  of  small  calibre,  without  any  knowledge  of 
military  matters  drawn  from  either  reading  or  experience.  Why 
he  was  put  forward,  why  he  got  in  and  why  he  was  commissioned, 
will  forever  be  a  mystery. 

For  Lieutenant-colonel  we  got  a  lawyer  from  Cedar  Rapids 
of  about  36.  He  was  not  much  of  a  lawyer,  had  no  prominence, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  97 


had  neither  push  nor  ability.  He  knew  nothing  whatever  of 
military  matters,  never  drilled  us,  always  stayed  in  the  back 
ground,  and  we  saw  but  little  of  him. 

For  Major  we  got  a  jolly  old  man  from  Alt.  Pleasant,  nearly 
55.  He  knew  nothing  of  military  matters;  was  considerable 
of  a  sport,  and  while  his  duties  rested  lightly  on  him,  and  he 
paid  but  little  attention  to  anything,  we  liked  him  because  he 
was  good-natured  and  jolly. 

In  the  selection  of  these  three  officers,  the  north,  center  and 
south  of  the  State  were  represented.  Geography  was  satisfied, 
but  the  soldiers  of  the  regiment  were  not.  No  one  of  these 
three  officers  had  the  slightest  military  training,  knowledge, 
or  instinct. 

The  reason  why  the  war  lasted  so  long  was  that  the  regiments 
in  the  beginning  were  so  poorly  officered.  Before  the  regiment 
could  do  much  service  it  had  to  unload  its  initial  officers  and 
get  a  new  outfit.  The  first  officers  were  appointed  for  political 
reasons,  and  through  favoritism  or  relationship  and  without  ref 
erence  to  ability.  On  account  of  it  the  North  would  have  been 
whipped  in  the  war  had  it  not  been  that  the  vice  was  worse  in 
the  South  than  in  the  North.  The  slave  oligarchy  did  the  same 
thing  in  a  more  flagrant  way,  and  suffered  for  it  in  proportion. 

The  merchants  of  Keokuk  kept  large  stores  of  powder  in 
powder-houses  beyond  the  city  limits.  I  was  detailed  on  guard 
one  night  with  others,  and  walked  a  beat  near  one  of  these 
structures;  a  terrific  storm  came  up,  with  much  vivid  lightning, 
and  I  was  glad  when  I  was  relieved.  The  officer  of  the  guard 


98  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

did  not  have  brains  enough  to  look  after  his  men,  and  he  stayed 
in  somewhere  out  of  the  wet;  he  did  not  have  sense  enough  to 
take  care  of  me. 

The  month  of  May  wore  awpy  and  we  were  still  in  camp. 
Our  uniforms  were  wearing  out,  buL  we  were  becoming  perfect 
in  our  drill.  We  did  our  laundry  down  on  the  banks  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  ;  every  man  washed  his  own  clothes.  We  were  inspected 
by  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  Captain  Alexander  Chambers. 

The  time  had  come,  May  14, 1861,  for  muster  into  the  United 
States  Army.  Four  of  our  men  refused  to  be  mustered  into  the 
United  States  service;  they  said  they  did  not  intend  to  go  and 
fight  to  free  the  nigger.  This  was  believed  by  the  boys  to  be 
only  a  mask  for  cowardice,  and  they  whooped  the  men  out  of 
camp  in  great  shape.  One  who  was  quite  ill  was  not  mustered 
in,  and  ten  more  were  rejected.  The  United  States  officer  was 
suspected  of  having  been  posted  by  our  First  Lieutenant,  be 
cause  the  ten  who  were  rejected  were  young  men  who  had  appar 
ently  determined  to  be  tough.  But  the  places  were  quickly 
filled,  and  the  company  was  better  off.  A  more  sturdy  lot  of 
young  men  could  not  have  been  found.  When  we  were  mustered 
in,  we  numbered  99.  No  company  in  the  regiment  surpassed 
us,  and  the  personnel  may  be  understood  when  I  say  that  the 
Iowa  City  company  averaged  160  pounds  in  weight  per  man. 
Our  company  never  got  around  to  weighing  up,  but  was  equally 
good,  with  an  average  age  of  22  years. 

We  were  now  soldiers  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
were  very  proud,  but  our  home-made  uniforms  were  getting 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  99 

shabby,  and  the  Government  had  no  uniforms  to  issue  to  us. 
Affairs  in  Saint  Louis  were  interesting  the  West,  and  still  we 
were  being  held  to  guard  Iowa.  The  regiment  grew  exceed 
ingly  restive ;  the  war  was  on ;  Jeff  Davis  had  issued  his  proc 
lamation  of  war  nearly  a  month  (Montgomery,  Ala.,  April  29, 
1861).  Missouri  seemed  to  be  a  secession  camp,  and  yet  we 
were  without  United  States  uniforms  and  equipment,  and  were 
kept  at  home  to  do  guard  duty.  The  regiment  became  mu 
tinous.  The  officers  were  practically  unable  to  control  it.  Hun 
dreds  of  men  broke  guard  and  went  down-town  and  lay  around 
damning  their  officers.  The  available  soldiers  of  whole  com 
panies  were  detailed  to  go  down-town  and  arrest  the  malcon 
tents.  Men  would  openly  insult  their  officers  and  be  sent  to 
the  guard-house,  from  which  they  would  break  at  a  favorable 
time.  Our  Captain  became  of  no  account  whatever,  and  the 
Colonel  the  same.  The  Colonel  would  treat  us  to  whisky  when 
he  met  us.  Our  rations  were  so  unsatisfactory,  our  cooks  so 
careless  and  useless,  and  our  officers  so  incapable,  that  some 
thing  had  to  be  done.  Private  messes  were  formed.  I  was 
invited  to  go  into  a  mess  formed  by  some  of  the  corporals  and 
sergeants;  we  bought  some  utensils,  got  some  that  were  is 
sued,  and  went  to  work  to  get  and  have  something  to  eat.  For 
tunately  a  fugitive  slave  came  into  cam}),  and  said  he  could  cook 
and  had  cooked  in  the  Mexican  War.  We  picked  him  up  and 
installed  him.  I  shall  speak  of  him  more  at  length  hereinafter. 
He  said  his  name  was  Mason  Johnson ;  he  was  a  treasure.  AVe 
called  him  U01d  Mace.'7  He  took  right  hold:  he  went  out 


100  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


on  the  edge  of  town,  outside  of  camp,  and  milked  the  town 
cows;  he  made  "pone,"  which  we  had  never  heard  of  before; 
he  took  Government  rations  and  with  the  addition  of  trifles  he 
made  food  worth  eating.  I  shall  never  forget  "Old  Mace"  :  he 
is  the  only  black  idol  I  ever  had.  When  we  afterwards  got  to 
naming  our  messes,  "Old  Mace"  named  our  mess  "Chicken 
Mess,  No.  1."  From  this  time  on  we  lived  high;  we  notified 
our  sisters  and  sweethearts  that  the  mess  had  been  started, 
and  we  got  consignments  of  fruit-cake  and  other  nutritious  and 
indigestible  stuff  by  express. 

On  May  31,  1861,  Lyon  took  charge  of  affairs  in  St.  Louis. 
His  action  at  the  time  was  considered  a  "bluff,"  but  it  did  not 
turn  out  so,  for  he  eventually  made  good. 


CHAPTER  10. 

June  Comes. — Rain. — Tobacco. — Poker. — Zouave  Drill. — Douglas  Funeral. 
— Great  Bethel. — Striking  Camp. — Our  Dog. — Juno  13th. — Trip  to 
Hannibal. — Breakfast. — June  1  4th.— Macon. —  Oratoiy. —  O'Connor. — 
Guard-House. — Cognac. — 'Blackberry  Brandy. — French  Jo. 

The  month  of  June1  opened  up  without  promise  of  any  service4 
outside  of  Iowa.  Over  in  Illinois,  east  of  us,  along  the  river, 
there  were4  constant  rumors  of  seccsh  disorders,  and  widespread 
Southern  sympathy.  Gangs  of  toughs  came  over  in  the  ferry 
boats,  and  fights  on  the  levee  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  It 
really  seemed  as  if  lots  of  the  toughs  and  ignorant  class  wanted 
to  be  martyrs  to  the  cause  of  secession.  We  talked  these  things 
over  among  ourselves,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  tide  of  disunion 
was  growing  stronger  and  Union  sentiment  was  growing  weaker. 
The  attacks  upon  President  Lincoln  by  Northern  men  and  news 
papers  seemed  to  daily  grow  in  quantity  and  rancor.  The4  war 
was  claimed  to  be  due  to  Northern  aggression,  and  to  be  a  fight 
for  the  u nigger,"  who  did  not  want  freedom  and  who  did  not 
know  what  was  going  on  and  cared  less.  About  the  first  of  June 
a  rainy  season  set  in;  our  tents  were  thin  and  did  not  keep  out 
the  water,  but  only  split  the  drops.  The  tents  had  no  top-flies, 
and  in  course  of  time  everything  became  damp  and  mouldy.  We 
made  a  shelter  for  Mace's  fin1  with  tree-tops  and  a  blanket.  The 
boys  wen4  confined  to  their  tents  by  stress  of  weather.  About 
this  time  a  wholesale  merchant,  who  was  afterwards  Senator 

(101) 


102  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

John  IT.  Gear  of  Iowa,  sent  to  the  company  a  large  box  of  chew 
ing-tobacco.  There  were  several  plugs  for  each  man,  and  it  was 
fairly  divided.  During  this  rainy  season  the  boys  played  poker 
for  this  tobacco. 

Poker  and  Brag  were  games  that  the  boys  all  generally  knew. 
Token1  was  a  development  of  brag.  Brag  was  played  with  three 
cards.  They  were  dealt  one  at  a  time,  and  every  man  bet  his 
three  cards  as  hard  as  he  dared,  as  soon  as  they  were  dealt.  The 
game  was  very  simple  :  aces  were  called  "bullets,"  and  the  slang 
allusions  and  expressions  of  that  day  were  in  terms  of  brag  in 
stead  of  being  in  terms  of  poker  as  to-day.  I  remember  once 
that  a  Canadian  came  to  our  town  and  was  reported  to  have 
brought  considerable  money  with  him ;  a  prominent  citizen  spoke 
of  him  as  holding  "two  bullets  and  a  bragger."  In  the  game 
certain  cards  held  an  elective  value1  and  were  called  "braggers." 
Three  aces  were  the  best  hand;  what  the  man  meant  was  that 
the  Canadian  held  almost  three  aces,  that  is,  was  almost  as  rich 
as  anybody.  Poker  as  a  gambling-game  was  played  with  the 
highest  twenty  cards  in  the  deck — ace,  king,  queen,  jack,  and 
ten-spot.  It  had  received  the  name  of  "twenty-deck"  poker. 
There  was  no  draw  to  it.  Each  man  held  his  five4  cards  and  bet 
them  as  high  as  he  wanted  to.  Only  four  could  play  it,  and  the 
deal  exhausted  the  cards.  The  money  which  I  saw  lost  at  cards 
on  the  steamboats  was  at  twenty-deck  poker,  and  everybody 
understood  the  game.  When,  however,  five  or  more  wanted  to 
get  into  the  game  after  our  company  was  formed,  we  had  taken 
more  and  more  cards  from  the  deck  until  we  played  what  we 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  103 


called  "full-deck."  The  whole  mess  would  sit  around  the  blan 
ket  with  beans,  and  play  "  freeze-out "  to  see  who  should  go  on 
guard,  or  wash  the  clothes,  or  police  the  tent.  No  money  was 
used,  nor  was  there  any  acquisitive  gambling,  but  all  contro 
versies  were  settled  by  freeze-out.  It  was  when  the  tobacco 
came  down  from  Mr.  Gear,  and  the  boys  began  to  play  freeze-out 
for  the  plugs,  that  the  "draw"  was  first  introduced.  Whence  it 
came  or  by  whom  introduced  I  do  not  know.  It  was  at  first  con 
demned  as  an  innovation,  but  before  that  rainy  spell  had  cleared 
off  everybody  in  our  company  understood  and  had  adopted  and 
had  approved  the  new  game,  and  its  name  was  "draw-poker." 
"Brag"  and  "20-deck"  immediately  disappeared  and  were  never 
heard  of  in  the  regiment  afterwards.  The  "jack-pot"  was  a 
Cleveland  innovation,  which  was  not  introduced  until  after  the 
war.  Corporal  Bill  of  our  mess  went  out,  and  before  the  weather 
cleared  up  brought  in  seventeen  plugs  from  the  other  tents; 
other  members  of  our  mess  did  well,  so  that  we  had  more  than  a 
double  shan\  This  was  nearly  the  end  of  all  of  our  poker-play 
ing  during  the  campaign;  for  we  never  had  much  opportunity 
to  play  afterwards.  Our  bayonets  were  our  candlesticks;  we 
stuck  the  sharp  end  of  the  bayonet  in  the  ground  and  the  candle 
fitted  exactly  into  the  socket.  I  have  often  thought  that  can 
dles  had  their  size  fixed  by  the  military  necessity.  A  ring  of 
seven  players  in  a  tent  around  a  blanket  with  seven  candles  burn 
ing  on  bayonets  stuck  into  the  ground  has  always  been  to  me  a 
dream  of  happiness. 

Intense  excitement  prevailed  from  about  the  first  of  June. 


104  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN, 

The  camp  was  constantly  filled  with  rumors  of  secession  move 
ments  in  Missouri.  Twenty  men  were  detailed  every  night  from 
each  company  to  sleep  on  their  arms,  so  as  to  be  ready  at  a  mo 
ment's  notice;  and  a  large  detail  also  slept  at  the  guard-house. 
It  was  not  known  at  what  moment  we  might  expect  an  attack. 
Rebel  regiments  were  being  raised  across  the  Des  Moines  river 
in  sight  of  our  town.  The  weather  cleared  off,  and  drilling  was 
resumed  with  great  earnestness.  We  went  out  and  drilled  with 
our  blankets,  canteens  and  haversacks  on;  that  is,  in  full  mili 
tary  equipment.  It  was  hard  drudgery,  and  with  our  dress- 
parades  made  from  five  to  six  hours  a  day  of  very  hard  work. 
We  kept  our  Zouave  method  of  drill,  and  hence  drilled  differently 
from  any  other  company.  It  was  afterwards  our  salvation. 

The  Douglas  Funeral  took  place  on  Tuesday,  June  11.  The 
great  man  had  died.  We  had  all  become  great  admirers  of 
Douglas  for  the  stand  he  had  taken  in  support  of  Lincoln  and 
the  war.  The  name  of  Douglas  was  worth  to  the  Union  cause 
a  hundred  thousand  men.  Everywhere  in  the  North,  as  far  as 
I  ever  heard,  there  was  a  funeral  ceremony  wherever  Union 
troops  were  camped.  Perhaps  it  was  an  order  of  the  War  De 
partment;  at  any  rate,  we  all  thought  it  was  just  the  right  thing. 
An  artillery  caisson  was  surmounted  with  a  coffin  and  draped 
with  the  American  flag,  and  we  marched  all  around  through  the 
town  and  suburbs  with  arms  reversed,  funeral  style,  the  drum 
corps  playing  a  long-drawn-out  and  monotonous  funeral  dirge. 
It  was  an  afternoon  job,  and  tiresome  withal,  but  we  all  thought 
it  ought  to  be  made  a  worthy  pageant.  We  were  followed  by  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  105 

column  of  civilians  that  we  could  not  count,  but  I  should  guess 
that  10,000  people  were  with  us  on  that  afternoon,  while  the 
ceremonies  lasted,  ending  with  dress-parade  in  camp. 

The  Victory  of  Great  Bethel  was  heralded  on  the  evening 
of  June  12.  It  was  pronounced  "a  great  strategic  victory," 
which  of  course  was  buncombe,.  Wo  all  went  wild  with  enthu 
siasm.  The  bugle-calls  did  not  got  the  men  to  bed;  the  officers 
came  around  and  made  the  lights  all  go  out,  but  in  the  stillness 
and  darkness  the  men  screamed  and  cheered.  These  were  sand 
wiched  in  with  profane  remarks  about  our  being  held  back. 
Irreverent  remarks  about  the  officers  were  shouted  from  tent  to 
tent,  and  the  fact  was  greatly  bewailed  that  the  war  would  end 
before  anybody  knew  that  the  First  Iowa  were  enlisted. 

The  next  day  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  were  routed 
out  on  bugle-call  and  told  to  get  immediately  ready  to  go  south. 
As  I  never  expect  to  be  young  again,  I  never  expect  to  see  and 
feel  again  such  enthusiasm.  The  camp  became  a  howling  mob. 
The  men  became  good-natured  again.  Orders  came  to  leave  all 
baggage  and  take  nothing  that  we  could  not  carry.  We  were 
told  to  "strip  down  to  the  buff."  We  were  told  that  every  man 
would  be  inspected  and  not  a  surplus  ounce  permitted.  Kxr 
press  teams  came  to  the  camp  and  we  sent  home  our  carpet- 
sacks  containing  all  of  the  neckties,  slippers  and  shaving-mugs 
the  girls  had  given  us;  also  everything  else  that  we  could  not 
carry  in  our  pockets.  We  even  consented  to  let  our  Bibles  go, 
but  kept  the  poker-docks.  Tents  were  rolled  up  and  the  whole 
regimental  outfit  was  soon  down  on  the  wharf  and  we  went  on 


108  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

board  of  a  steamboat,  and  lo!  and  behold,  it  was  the  "Jennie 
Deans/'  whose  captain,  as  before  stated,  we  had  made  run  up 
the  American  flag.  (In  those  days  we  called  it  the  AMERICAN 
FLAG.) 

There  had  been  a  lot  of  vagrant,  tramp  dogs  visiting  the  camp 
furtively;  they  were  a  bad-looking  lot.  The  ugliest  was  a  mud- 
colored  mongrel,  whom  somebody  named  "Lize";  she  was  so 
ugly  that  she  was  a  curiosity.  She  had  never  had  a  friend,  and 
had  been  kicked  around  and  half-starved  to  death  until  she  was 
painfully  timid.  Our  company  adopted  this  dog  and  placed  it 
under  the  charge  of  Sergeant  Harbaugh  (afterwards  a  Brigadier- 
General  of  the  Regular  Army).  Our  drunken  captain,  and  Lize, 
were  taken  aboard,  and  down  the  river  we  started.  Charley 
Stypes  had  his  accordion  in  a  bag  over  his  stalwart  shoulders. 
Charley  was  one  of  our  favorites;  he  could  play  an  accompani 
ment  to  a  mocking-bird,  a  steamboat  whistle,  or  a  roll  of  thun 
der.  He  was  a  big,  handsome,  even-tempered  boy  who  could 
play  the  accordion  for  forty-eight  hours  without  batting  an  eye. 
Well,  he  ran  a  stag-dance  on  the  hurricane  deck  all  the  way  down 
to  Hannibal,  where  we  arrived  at  12  o'clock  midnight.  I  put  in 
some  time  trying  to  color  a  new  meerschaum  pipe  that  had 
been  presented  to  me  by  a  girl  whose  brother  I  did  not  like. 

Hannibal  was  the  eastern  end  of  a  railroad  line  which  ex 
tended  west  across  the  State  of  Missouri.  The  line  was  a  new, 
uneven,  unballasted,  crooked,  "jerk-water"  sort  of  a  railroad; 
but  cars  could  be  kept  on  the  track  if  the  speed  were  low  and  the 
engineer  diligent.  The  line  was  deemed  one  of  great  strategic 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  107 


importance.  On  arrival  at  Hannibal  we  were  marched  up  into 
the  town  and  halted  on  the  street  in  the  black  night.  We  stood 
there  about  an  hour  waiting  for  orders.  "What  are  we  doing 
here?"  asked  everyone;  nobody  knew.  The  officers  were  all 
gone.  In  fact,  they  were  up  at  the  hotel,  sound  asleep,  and  had 
left  us  to  take  care  of  ourselves.  Bad  officers  sometimes  are  a 
benefit  to  their  men ;  the  men  learn  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
are  put  on  their  own  resources,  and  do  not  rely  upon  anyone  to 
look  after  or  provide  for  them.  It  gives  the  men  initiative,  and 
puts  them  on  the  lookout.  This  night  in  Hannibal  I  will  never 
forget.  We  had  no  supper;  after  waiting  a  while  we  went  to 
the  curbstone  of  the  pavement  and  sat  down;  we  stacked  our 
arms  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  put  two  guards  to  watch,  then 
lying  down  on  the  brick  pavement  we  curled  up  and  went  to 
sleep.  We  were  awakened  at  sunrise  by  a  bugle-call.  We 
"took"  arms  and  formed  in  line,  but  it  was  a  false  alarm.  The 
call  was  from  a  group  of  tents  on  a  hill  near  town  where  two 
companies  of  Illinois  infantry  (I  think  the  Sixteenth)  had  camped 
the  day  before.  I  may  say  here  that  one  of  the  private  soldiers 
in  the  Illinois  tents  afterwards  became,  and  remained  through 
life,  one  of  my  best  and  warmest  friends, — Noble  L.  Prentis. 

Hannibal  was  then  a  straggling,  struggling,  western,  wooden, 
Missouri  town.  Finding  nothing  to  do,  we  mud-sills  again 
curled  up  on  the  sidewalk;  after  a  while  a  wagon  drove  up  and 
gave  us  a.  ham  for  each  ten  men,  and  piled  out  on  the  sidewalk 
in  boxes  a  lot  of  bread  of  all  kinds  and  sizes,  intermixed  with 
a  lot  of  crackers.  It  looked  as  if  all  the  bakeries  in  town  had 


108  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


been  robbed.  There  were  all  kinds  and  sizes  of  bread — brown, 
black  and  white,  rye,  graham,  and  fancy — loaves  big  and  little 
— some  sour,  some  fresh  and  some  old.  We  ate  it  all  up  and 
then  began  to  roam  around  and  buy  things  from  the  opening 
stores — young  onions,  bologna,  anything  that  they  had  to  sell. 
Still  no  officers  appeared  until  about  11  o'clock.  They  arrived 
fresh  as  daisies,  the  bugle  was  sounded,  and  we  were  inarched 
to  the  railroad  station.  At  12  noon,  Friday,  June  14th,  we 
were  put  into  some  stock  cars  and  billed,  so  I  suppose,  for 
Macon,  which  was  70  miles  west  by  track  measurement.  In 
the  afternoon  we  pitched  our  tents  in  that  village,  Macon,  be 
side  a  railroad  dump  which  was  to  be  used  as  a  fortification  if 
attacked.  It  was  reported  that  500  infantry  and  200  cavalry, 
organized  for  the  Confederate  army,  were  near  us  down  on  the 
Chariton  river  west  of  town.  We  slept  on  our  arms  that  night 
because  the  rebel  cavalry  had  reconnoitered  our  position  in 
plain  view.  At  this  town  our  regimental  orators  developed. 
A  great  number  came  in  to  look  at  the  camp, — some  from 
friendship,  some  from  curiosity,  and  some  as  spies.  When  a 
good  number  had  gathered  some  member  of  our  regiment 
made  them  a  red-hot,  spread-eagle  Union  speech.  I  may  not 
refer  to  this  phase  of  our  campaign  again,  and  so  will  say  here 
that  we  argued  our  case  all  the  way  through  Missouri.  It  was 
musketry  and  discussion,  cold  lead  and  controversy,  from  first 
to  last.  Whenever  any  man  found  a  Missourian  who  would 
stand  hitched  long  enough  to  listen,  the  latter  had  the  Union 
cause  talked  into  him.  We  were  both  missionaries  and  musket- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  109 

eers.  When  wo  captured  a  man  we  talked  him  nearly  to  death ; 
in  other  respects  we  treated  him  humanely.  The  Civil  War 
was  a  battle  of  ideas  interrupted  by  artillery.  The  speakers 
of  our  regiment  were  in  no  instance  officers.  Every  officer  had 
under  him  a  number  of  men  who  were  his  superiors  in  ability, 
education  and  social  standing.  The  best  speaker  that  we  had 
in  our  regiment  was  a  soldier  of  the  Muscatine  company,  "A," 
named  Henry  O'Connor.  lie  was  like  an  old  flint-lock — he 
required  " priming"  before  he  would  go  off;  but  he  did  good 
execution.  He  afterwards  held  high  office  in  Iowa,  but  I  do 
not  now  remember  what  it  was.  He  deserved  all  he  got. 

At  jVIacon  City,  when  we  arrived  there,  I  was  detailed  on 
guard,  and  was  stationed  the  furthest  out  on  the  dump,  and 
was  ordered  to  keep  my  gun  loaded  and  cocked,  so  that  if  I  was 
picked  off  I  might  at  least  have  strength  enough  left  to  fire 
an  alarm.  This  was  comforting.  I  had  just  passed  a  hard 
day  and  night  before  I  went  on  guard,  and  on  the  next  morn 
ing  I  came  in  pretty  well  used  up.  I  was  asked  to  go  into  town 
and  find  a  grindstone  and  sharpen  the  mess  cutlery  preparatory 
to  a  campaign.  I  did  so,  and  also  ground  my  bayonet  down  to 
a  fine  sharp  triangular  point.  When  I  came  back  I  heard  that 
the  captain  had  ordered  all  guns  cleaned  and  an  inspection  for 
noon.  I  went  to  the  captain  and  asked  permission  to  fire  off 
the  load  in  my  musket  because  it  would  take  too  long  to  draw 
the  load  with  a  ball-screw.  He  said,  "Yes."  Thereupon  I 
fired  the  gun  into  the  bank,  and  had  hardly  begun  to  clean  it 
when  a  squad  came  and  arrested  me  by  order  of  the  colonel 


110  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


for  firing  the  gun ;  I  claimed  the  permission  of  the  captain,  and 
they  took  me  before  him  and  he  denied  it.  Thereupon  a  colloquy 
arose,  and  I  called  the  captain  something,  and  then  I  called 
him  something  else.  I  remember  the  idea,  but  not  the  exact 
language.  Thereupon  I  was  gently  conveyed  to  the  guard 
house,  which  was  the  freight-house  of  the  railroad,  not  a  large 
building,  standing  upon  stilts.  I  never  felt  so  bad  in  my  life. 
I  wanted  to  shoot  the  captain  and  burn  the  depot.  What 
would  my  best  girl  say  when  she  heard,  as  she  would,  that  I 
had  been  stuck  into  the  guard-house,  the  very  first  day  on  the 
enemy's  soil?  My  first  dinner  in  hostile  territory  was  sent  to 
me  in  a  mess-pan  in  the  guard-house.  I  felt  indignant,  resent 
ful  and  seditious.  As  we  were  liable  to  attack,  my  musket, 
blanket  and  accoutrements  were  sent  me,  with  orders  to  fall 
into  the  company  in  case  of  attack.  There  were  a  couple  of 
cars  of  freight  in  the  depot  and  it  was  piled  up  against  the  end 
wall,  and  on  the  top  about  eight  feet  up  was  a  layer  of  lightning- 
rods.  I  got  up  on  the  lightning-rods  and  went  to  sleep.  After 
a  while  I  woke  up,  and  the  more  rested  the  more  mutinous  I 
became.  The  officer  of  the  guard  drew  a  line  on  the  floor  with 
chalk,  beyond  which  I  must  not  go;  it  gave  me  about  eight 
feet  of  the  end  of  the  room.  I  occupied  it  and  planned  devil 
ment.  To  think  that  a  worthless,  drunken,  no-account  cigar- 
maker  could  disgrace  me  that  way  burdened  my  soul.  How 
could  I  ever  get  even  with  him  was  the  cargo  of  my  brain.  If 
I  struck  him,  a  squad  whom  I  didn't  know  would  walk  me  out 
and  shoot  me  full  of  large,  ragged  and  unnecessary  holes.  I 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  Ill 

finally  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  make  myself  a  burden  to 
him  while  in  the  service  arid  thrash  him  within  three-sixteenths 
when  I  got  out.  Then  I  bewailed  the  situation,  and  what  my 
sister  would  say  and  what  her  friends  would  say,  and  what 
my  girl  would  say,  and  what  Mrs.  Grundy  would  say,  and  I 
suffered  more  misery  than  anybody.  I  was  carrying  the  photo 
graph  of  the  girl  in  the  blank  diary-book  from  which  I  now 
write  these  few  melancholy  lines.  "What  a  shame/'  said  I, 
"to  have  the  picture  of  such  a  pretty  girl  in  such  a  place."  As 
I  did  not  marry  the  girl,  I  am  speaking  of  my  sentiments  then 
and  not  now.  As  she  shortly  afterwards  married  the  most 
worthless,  drunken,  stay-at-home  copperhead  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  and  experienced  a  sad  and  ruined  life,  I  never  bothered 
my  head  much  about  it  afterwards.  I  came  to  the  conclusion, 
taking  this  as  one  of  my  illustrations,  that  whereas  three- 
fourths  of  our  troubles  and  evils  are  imaginary,  so  also  are  three- 
fourths  of  our  happiness.  Pardon  the  digression.  In  a  lone 
some  and  degraded  mood,  and  wanting  something  to  do,  I 
proceeded  to  pull  down  the  lightning-rods  onto  the  floor  so  as 
to  make  a  better  place  to  sleep,  and  lo!  and  behold,  I  discov 
ered  a  half-barrel  labeled  "Golden  Grape  Cognac."  Now  here 
was  a  place  to  do  some  thinking.  After  about  a  half-hour  of 
intense  cerebral  activity,  I  took  my  bayonet,  which  was  natur 
ally  crooked  and  artificially  sharp,  and  using  it  like  a  brace- 
and-bit  I  began  to  bore  into  the  head  of  the  cognac  barrel;  it 
was  about  an  inch  and  a  half  of  well-seasoned  oak.  My  prog 
ress  was  exceedingly  slow,  but  I  had  plenty  of  time.  I  blis- 


112  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


tered  both  hands  but  I  got  down  six  inches  into  the  barrel. 
I  then  opened  negotiations  with  the  guard,  and  found  that  he 
would  offer  no  objections  to  having  his  canteen  filled.  I  got 
the  big  keg  slewed  around  and  filled  the  canteen.  The  guard 
then  sent  for  me  a  message4  to  Corporal  Bill  of  our  mess.  He 
came,  and  I  told  him  to  smuggle  me  in  as  many  of  the  canteens 
of  the  boys  as  he  could.  Corporal  Bill  played  a  strategic  game. 
He  brought  to  the  guard-house  a  young  man  with  a  dozen  can 
teens,  and  a  camp-kettle  full  of  water,  and  told  the  officer  of 
the  guard  that  the  young  man  must  be  punished  and  that  he 
must  clean  those  canteens.  The  young  man  was  put  in  with 
me  and  began  to  clean  the  canteens;  he  worked  well  and  the 
officer  watched  him.  When  the  officer  went  to  headquarters 
to  report,  the  young  man's  canteens  were  filled  and  a  quantity 
of  the  golden  grape  went  into  the  camp-kettle  and  the  guard 
let  him  go  to  his  quarters,  his  punishment  being  over.  About 
this  time  I  discovered  a  barrel  of  blackberry  brandy,  favorite 
Missouri  drink.  I  again  sent  for  Corporal  Bill.  I  told  him  of 
my  discovery,  and  that  if  lie  would  get  a  brace-and-bit  and 
bore  up  under  the  floor  he  could  get  it  all.  But  I  charged  him 
to  let  the  other  companies  in  and  have  the  whole  regiment  get 
the  benefit.  He  afterwards  reported  that  he  had  got  the  brace- 
and-bit  and  could  get  under  the  depot  all  right  at  the  back 
end,  but  did  not  know  where  to  bore.  There  was  a  box  with 
some  nails  and  a  hammer  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  and  I  drove 
a  nail  through  the  floor  on  two  sides  of  the  barrel.  It  was  now 
dusk.  I  planned  a  malicious  act.  I  felt  that  in  a  little  while 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  113 


the  camp  would  be  a  perfect  Gehenna,  and  T  wanted  my  cap 
tain  to  have  some  of  the  stuff.  I  sent  him  my  canteen  filled 
with  Golden  Grape,  and  he  immediately  proceeded  to  get  full 
and  make  a  fool  of  himself  as  I  expected.  As  soon  as  it  was 
dark  Corporal  Bill  skillfully  executed  his  "stunt,"  and  the 
camp-kettles  of  blackberry  brandy  began  to  circulate.  In  a 
little  while  I  heard  the  shouting  and  yelling,  and  in  a  little 
while  longer  the  guard-house1  began  to  fill.  Soon  the  depot 
was  full;  the  new  arrivals  were  noisy  and  boisterous  for  a  while, 
but  soon  became  quieter.  At  about  11  p.  M.  in  the  depot  with 
a  scuffle1  and  a  push  came  tumbling  one  of  the  Dubuquc  com 
pany  known  as  "French  Jo."  In  a  little  while  he  began  sing 
ing  "The  Happy  Land  of  Canaan."  It  was  a  new  song  and 
very  catchy.  Jo  was  tempestuously  musical;  he  woke1  up 
everybody  and  made  them  join  in  the  chorus.  He  said  his 
song  had  217  verses,  and  after  he  had  sung  it  for  an  hour  we  all 
thought  it  had.  His  song  was  all  about  how  John  Brown  had 
gathered  up  his  men  and  what  lie  said  to  them,  and  how  they 
captured  Harper's  Ferry,  and  how  the  State1  of  Virginia  was 
scared,  and  how  all  the  soldiers  of  Virginia  were1  scared,  and 
how 

Old   Governor   Wise 

Put  his  spectacles  on  his  eyes 

And  sent  him  [Brown]- 

To  the  happy  land  of  Canaan. 

The  meter  and  the  rhyme1  were  broken  and  unskillful,  but  the1 
story  was  a  true1  folk-lore  ballad;  it  had  pathos  and  it  had  his 
tory,  and  Jo  made  the  boys  sing  the  chorus  with  him  for  an 


114  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


hour  or  more.  I  always  thought  that  Jo  made  it  up;  I  had 
never  hoard  what  he  sang  before  and  I  never  saw  it  in  print 
afterwards.  The  guard-house  was  full,  and  so  were  all  the 
inmates,  and  the  scene  was  indescribable.  There  were  members 
of  every  company,  and  every  one  present  either  already  knew, 
or  then  and  there  learned,  the  tune.  From  that  night  it  be 
came  our  regimental  song,  and  we  sang  it  on  long  and  weary 
marches  and  when  the  stars  were  shining  and  when  the  oriomy 
was  in  view.  When  we  inarched  and  sang  it  a  thousand  strong 
it  could  be  heard  for  miles.  "Sec  those  Iowa  greyhounds/' 
said  General  Lyon,  "stretch  out  when  they  sing  the  Happy 
Land  of  Canaan."  Said  Sigel,  "There  goes  that  tarn  Happy 
Land  of  Canaan."  Jo  became  hoarse  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  wo  slept  until  four.  \Yo  wore  all  sent  to  our 
quarters  at  guard-mount,  and  concerning  the  whole  matter 
nothing  was  ever  done.  I  was  asked  some  questions,  but  re 
membering  the  immunity  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  gave  me  I  declined  to.  incriminate  anybody,  including 
myself.  Privately,  I  was  considered  a  benefactor  by  the  boys, 
and  they  always  thereafter  divided  with  me  liberally. 

During  that  afternoon  a  scouting  party  captured  a  Confederate 
Brigadier  by  the  name  of  Bevier,  with  his  commission  on  his 
person ;  this  was  much  fun.  As  a  town  of  that  name  now 
exists  in  that  neighborhood  it  may  have  been  named  for  him. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Union  Flag. — Macon. — Serenades. — Huestis  and  Grimes. — Link. — The  Flag- 
Pole. — Bridge  Guards. — 'General  Price. — June  18th. — Railroad  Break 
ing. — 500  Cavalry. — Go  it,  Aunty. — Renick. — Newspaper. — Yancey 
House. — Boonville  Battle. — Little  Bawly. — June  20th. — Fayette. — The 
Missouri  River. 

When  we  had  first  come  into  Macon  there  were  several  "Se- 
cesli"  flags  flying,  but  they  were  quickly  torn  down,  some  by 
citizens,  and  some  by  us.  But  there  were  no  American  flags 
flying.  There  were  not  many  loyal  people  in  Macon,  at  least  not 
enough  to  make  it  safe*  for  them  to  assert  their  loyalty,  before 
we  came.  The  next  day  the  American  flags  began  to  come  out, 
and  it  is  my  recollection  that  16  in  all  were  run  up,  by  the  citi 
zens,  on  their  houses.  It  was  thought  best  to  take  notice1  of  it, 
and  so  every  afternoon  Major  Porter  went  around  with  our  regi 
mental  fife-and-drum  corps  and  gave  every  flag  a  serenade,  and 
if  a  crowd  gathered  Henry  O'Connor  would  make  them  a  speech. 
This  sort  of  business  pleased  Major  Porter,  who  was  a  good-na 
tured  old  gentleman,  as  stated,  of  about  55  years  of  age.  These 
recognitions,  to  these  Union  families,  brought  about  dire  revenge 
upon  them  after  our  troops  left.  The  principal  newspaper  of 
the  town  was  furiously  rebel,  and  full  of  the  talk  about  one  South 
ern  man  whipping  five  Northern  men.  We  got  and  read  many 
copies  of  it;  they  were  wild,  silly  and  bombastic.  We  passed 
them  around  and  read  them  aloud  to  the  squads  that  gathered. 

(115) 


1 16  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


The  paper  said  that  if  a  Yankee  stepped  onto  the  sacred  soil  of 
Missouri  his  blood  would  flow  right  then  and  there.  The  editor 
fled  as  we  came,  and  we  issued  his  paper  for  him.  The  original 
name  of  the  paper  was  "The  Missouri  Register."  We  called  it, 
"THE  WHOLE  UNION."  Men  were  detailed  from  the  companies 
to  run  the  paper  while  we  were  there. 

My  guard-house  experience  was  valuable  to  me  in  many  ways, 
but  most  of  all  it  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  tell  each  of  my  com 
rades  in  the  company  what  a  worthless  and  unreliable  man  our 
captain  was;  and  to  get  them  entirely  in  sympathy  with  me,— 
all  of  which  produced  strange  results,  as  we  shall  see.  I  was 
never  under  guard  after  that.  It  was  my  last  and  only  guard 
house  experience.  But  the  next  day  Huestis  and  Grimes  fell 
under  the  ban  of  the  captain.  Grimes  had  made  some  mistake 
on  drill,  and  Huestis  had  done  something,  and  the  captain  or 
dered  Huestis  to  drill  Grimes  until  further  orders.  Huestis  was 
the  wit  of  the  company — a  tall,  lean,  cadaverous  youth,  tireless 
as  the  wind  and  good-natured  as  a  colt.  Ho  chewed  much  to 
bacco  but  talked  little;  when  he  spoke  ho  said  something. 
Huestis  took  Grimes  out  and  drilled  him  all  afternoon.  He 
kept  Grimes  always  on  the  "double-quick."  He  "right-dressed" 
him  on  a  tree  or  a  fence-corner,  had  him  count  off  "by  fours," 
deployed  him  as  skirmishers,  and  wheeled  him  around  in  column 
of  platoons.  It  was  hard  work  for  both,  but  by  supper-time 
about  half  of  the  regiment  was  out  seeing  Huestis  drill  Grimes. 
At  supper-time  Huestis  marched  Grimes  in  and  ordered  him  to 
stack  arms  and  come  to  a  parade4  rest  while  Huestis  got  him  some- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  117 


thing  to  eat;  ho  then  marched  him  around  to  the  captain's  tent 
and  reported,  then  inarched  Grimes  out  onto  the  parade-ground 
and  told  him  to  "break  ranks"  and  go  to  his  quarters. 

At  Macon  City  we  got  our  last  consignments  from  home.  I 
got  a  new  pair  of  pants,  and  a  lot  of  jellies,  jams,  fruit-cake,  and 
money.  Our  uniforms  were  getting  ragged  and  we  all  needed 
clothes.  We  never  got  anything  from  home  after  that  except 
letters,  and  only  a  few  of  them.  The  boys  of  our  company  had 
been  used  at  home  to  being  well  fed  and  well  clothed,  and  now  to 
be  shabbily  dressed  and  fed  on  a  pork  army  ration  was  galling. 
Our  mess  had  money  to  buy  things  with,  and  with  the  help  of  old 
Mace  got  along  pretty  well.  Personally  I  never  had  eaten  fat 
pork ;  I  was  raised  on  beefsteak.  My  good  New  England  mother 
would  never  have  bacon  around  the  house.  I  do  not  remember 
of  ever  eating  any  bacon  until  I  went  into  the  army.  And  there 
were  many  others  like  me.  During  the  40's  and  50's  there  were 
many  food  fads;  vegetarianism  got  a  good  hold  upon  society, 
and  at  our  house  graham  bread  and  beefsteak  were  the  things. 
For  several  years,  although  in  perfect  health,  I  had  not  eaten 
butter  or  any  fats,  or  drank  tea  or  coffee, — so,  when  I  went  into 
the  service,  "side-meat"  and  "salt  junk"  (pork)  were  things 
that  I  could  not  endure ;  and  there  were  many  like  me.  But  I 
got  along  all  right  with  a  little  money  from  home.  I  was  tall, 
six  feet  in  my  stockings,  weighed  about  150,  and  did  not  have  an 
ounce  of  fat  on.  I  was  nicknamed  "Lincoln."  It  was  not  in 
tended  to  be  complimentary;  it  was  because  I  was  tall  and  slim. 

President  Lincoln  was  not  then  in  very  good  standing.     The 


118  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


North  was  then  divided  into  two  parties,  one  of  which  wanted 
him  to  go  faster  and  anathematized  him  for  not  going ;  the  other 
wanted  him  to  go  slower  and  condemned  his  rapidity,  and  hence 
poor  Lincoln  had  a  hard  time  of  it  and  pleased  nobody.  In 
June,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  wholly  friendless ;  we  boys  then 
had  no  confidence  in  him  whatever.  My  name  was  abbreviated 
into  "Link/'  and  old  Mace  addressed  me  as  "Massa  Link/'  after 
wards  "Corpular  Link."  He  meant  Corporal,  but  I  was  only  a 
private  in  the  rear  rank,  and  only  just  ordinary  as  a  private. 

In  Macon  City  we  stayed  until  the  18th  of  June.  Infantry 
scouting  parties  were  sent  out  every  day  from  camp  in  all  direc 
tions,  and  began  to  bring  in  secession  flags  which  they  found  fly 
ing  out  in  the  country.  Squads  were  sent  out  each  afternoon  to 
guard  railroad  bridges  overnight.  Every  railroad  train  that 
came  in  had  bullet-marks,  mostly  on  the  engine  cabs,  which  were 
shielded  with  boiler-iron.  Attacks  were  made  every  night  on 
the  bridge  guards.  A  high  and  beautiful  flag-pole  in  Macon  City 
which  had  been  floating  the  rebel  flag  before  our  arrival  was  cut 
\lown  by  way  of  punishment,  and  was  chopped  up  and  burned, 
amid  the  maledictions  of  many  women  who  were  emboldened  on 
account  of  their  sex  to  do  and  say  things  that  their  husbands, 
sons  and  brothers  did  not  dare.  Companies  of  other  regiments 
every  day  went  through  on  the  railroad  to  garrison  points  west 
of  us,  so  that  by  June  18th  there  were  said  to  be  six  thousand 
infantry  on  the  line  through  to  St.  Joseph.  And  it  was  said  that 
there  was  not  a  town  from  Hannibal  to  St.  Joseph  in  which  from 
a  lofty  and  specially  constructed  flag-pole  the  rebel  flag  was  not 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  119 


flying  when  our  troops  came.  And  there  was  not  a  town  on  the 
line  in  which  a  man  would  have  dared  to  hoist  on  a  pole  the  flag 
of  his  country.  The  secesh  element  absolutely  dominated  dur 
ing  that  time  the  sentiment  of  North  Missouri;  and  was  blood 
thirsty.  The  two  worst  towns  were  at  the  ends  of  the  railroad- 
Hannibal  and  St.  Joe;  although  Palmyra  was  as  bad  as  it  could 
be.  There  was  a  railroad  newly  built  running  south  from  Macon 
City.  When  we  arrived,  there  were1  two  engines  there;  the  se 
cesh  ran  one  of  them  off,  and  disabled  the  other  by  taking  away 
a  valve  so  that  it  could  not  be  made  to  move.  Corporal  Bill  ex 
amined  the  engine,  then  went  into  a  blacksmith  shop  and  made 
a  new  valve  and  put  the  engine  in  good  running  order.  We  had 
men  in  our  company  who  could  do  anything  that  needed  to  be 
done.  We  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping  up  the  telegraph  lines, 
and  nightly  skirmishes  were  reported  along  the  whole  line  of  the 
road.  We  were  constantly  on  the  go,  up  and  down  the  road  and 
out  into  the  country.  10 very  train  was  being  fired  into,  and  the 
concurrent  evidence  was  that  there  was  a  steady  stream  of  horse 
men  going  past  us  south  toward  the  direction  of  Jefferson  City, 
the  State  capital.  On  June  18th  General  Price  with  his  secesh 
army  camped  in  Boonville,  which  was  about  50  miles  southwest 
of  Macon  City,  and  General  Lyon  was  after  him  with  a  fleet  of 
steamboats. 

On  the  Morning  of  the  18th,  Illinois  infantry  reinforcements 
came  to  hold  the  town  of  Macon  City,  and  we  were  ordered  to 
join  Lyon  immediately.  The  engine  which  Corporal  Bill  had 
fixed  was  steamed  up  and  a  lot  of  box-cars  hitched  on,  enough 


120  THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 


in  which  to  crowd  our  regiment.  The  engine  was  iron-plated  so 
as  to  make  the  sides  of  the  cab  bullet-proof,  and  the  doors  were 
taken  off  the  cars  so  that  the  boys  could  jump  out  and  shoot. 
At  this  point  of  time  the  captain  came  along  and  ordered  me 
to  get  up  on  a  car  and  act  as  brakeman.  This  I  considered  a 
death  sentence,  and  so  I  offered  the  position  to  Heustis,  but  he 
declined,  saying  that  he  would  prefer  to  "break"  the  boys,  at 
poker,  on  the  inside. 

I  mounted  the  car,  got  hold  of  the  brake,  lay  down  on  the  car 
with  the  brake  between  my  feet,  with  my  musket  at  my  side. 
We  started  with  the  steam  whistling,  the  boys  yelling,  the  fife 
and  drums  playing;  and  a  large  native  crowd  looking  on  who  did 
not  seem  very  much  enthused.  We  had  not  more  than  got  out 
of  town  when  bang!  went  a  bullet  at  the  engine,  and  so  it  kept 
going.  I  lay  as  flat  on  that  car-roof  as  a  sheet  of  tin.  I  do  not 
think  that  anybody  shot  at  me,  but  I  was  frightened  every  time 
the  whistle  sounded  "brakes,"  for  I  had  to  sit  up  and  take  notice 
and  twist.  The  route  was  all  through  the  timber,  and  much  of 
the  route  had  heavy  bushes  on  each  side.  At  one  place  the 
train  stopped  and  a  farmer  who  was  plowing  at  some  consider 
able  distance  off  stopped  his  team  and  began  gesticulating  and 
shaking  his  fist  at  the  train.  A  boy  of  our  company  drew  a  bead 
on  him  and  hit  and  splintered  the  handle  of  his  plow ;  then  the 
man  lay  down  flat  in  the  furrow  and  stayed  there  until  we  moved 
on.  A  negro  at  a  place  where  we  stopped  said  that  there  were 
500  horsemen  out  in  the  river-bottom  west  of  us ;  that  General 
Marmaduke  had  disbanded  the  State  Guards  and  sent  them 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  121 


homo,  and  that  they  did  not  intend  to  be  disbanded,  and  were 
going  down  to  join  Price4.  General  Sterling  Price  was  the4  chief 
officer,  and  a  great  pet  in  Missouri,  first,  because  he  had  been  in 
the  Mexican  War,  and  second,  because  he  was  a  good  deal  of  a 
man.  We  soon  found  out  that  all  unknown  bodies  of  horsemen 
were  estimated  at  500.  If  they  were  100  or  1000  the  average 
mind  put  them  at  500.  The  country  through  which  we  went 
was  new  and  raw;  everybody  went  on  horseback;  horses  and 
beef  cattle  were  abundant,  and  here  and  there  were  fine  farms 
with  many  slaves. 

At  one  place  an  old  negro  woman  in  the  road  seemed  to  catch 
the  inspiration  of  the  occasion, — she  yelled  and  danced  and 
shrieked  and  acted  like  a  howling  dervish;  it  was  a  wild,  hys 
terical  outbreak  of  joy.  She  kept  it  up,  and  the  boys  kept  yell 
ing,  "Go  it,  Aunty!"  and  she  did.  It  was  a  sight  never  to  be 
forgotten;  she  seemed  to  know  what  the  war  was  about,  and 
kept  up  her  dancing  and  yelling  until  we  got  out  of  sight. 

At  the  Town  of  Renick,  where4  we  finally  arrived,  about  25 
miles  south  of  Macon  City,  we  found  our  run-away  locomotive, 
and  also  found  that  the  inhabitants  had  kindly  burned  the 
bridge  so  that  we  could  not  go  further.  A  secesh  flag  was 
flying  from  a  pole,  and  we  chopped  it  down  and  used  it  for  fuel. 
We  were  now  25  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the  rebel  army, 
and  further  by  country  road.  We  got  into  town  at  about  2 
p.  M.,  and  saw  numbers  of  horsemen  around  the  edges  of  town. 
Here  the  roll  was  called,  and  we  were  told  to  stay  where  we 
could  rally  at  a  moment's  notice;  and  were  told  that  there 


122  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

was  a  tide  of  recruits  going  in  companies  to  join  Price,  and  that 
they  might  gather  in  sufficient  quantities  to  attack  us. 

The  principal  fire-eaters  of  the  South  were  Yancey,  Wigfall, 
and  Toombs,  in  the  order  stated.  They  were  the  great  rcbel- 
and  rabble-rousers;  they  were  windy,  bitter,  and  extreme. 
They  were  really  of  no  military  use,  and  faded  out  long  before 
the  war  was  closed.  But  at  this  time  they  were  the  ones  who 
charmed  the  disordered  fancy  of  the  South.  Renick  was  wildly 
and  fiercely  secession,  and  the  big  frame  hotel  in  the  town  was 
named  the  "YAN.CEY  HOUSE,"  in  very  large  black  letters  across 
the  whole  side.  A  newspaper  was  also  published  there  that 
was  ferocious;  a  lot  of  the  late  issue  was  obtained  and  read; 
it  produced  much  indignation.  Finally  a  gang  of  printers  got 
together,  as  if  by  instinct,  from  the  ranks,  and  got  out  a  large 
edition  of  the  paper.  The  new  issue  denounced  secession,  and 
pledged  a  regiment  of  men  from  around  Renick  to  the  Union 
cause.  Our  boss  orator  soon  had  about  half  of  the  town  around 
him  listening  to  as  good  a  speech  as  anybody  could  deliver. 
He  carefully  prepared  it,  and  I  never  heard  a  better  one  during 
the  war.  In  the  mean  time  a  soldier  was  seen  putting  a  ladder 
up  against  the  side  of  the  hotel;  we  watched  him;  he  mounted 
with  a  pot  of  paint  and  began  erasing  the  letter  C  in  the  name 
"Yancey."  Great  was  our  delight  when  he  finished  by  putting 
in  a  K,  making  it  read  "  YANKEY  HOUSE."  The  night  was  a 
beautiful  moonlight,  and  we  lay  around  by  companies  on  the 
grass.  The  camp  gossip  was  that  our  colonel  had  sent  three 
different  dispatches  to  Colonel  Lyon  arid  had  got  no  answers. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  123 

Some  of  the  secesh  told  us  that  Price  had  whipped  Lyon ;  others 
said  that  Lyon  had  gone  back  to  St.  Louis. 

On  the  Morning  of  June  19th  we  began  to  hear  rumors  of  the 
battle  at  Boonville.  It  was  described  to  us  as  I  find  in  my 
diary  as  follows:  " Colonel  Lyon  made  the  attack  in  the  form 
of  a  crescent.  A  good,  strong  fight  was  being  made  against 
him,  and  it  looked  dubious;  all  at  once  he  ordered  the  points 
of  the  crescent  to  charge,  and  he  pulled  the  men  away  from 
the  center,  disclosing  a  battery  of  artillery  which  fired  a  volley 
supporting  the  charge,  and  the  secesh  were  whipped."  This 
was  the  way  it  was  told  us.  At  Renick  we  impressed  a  lot  of 
wagons  to  haul  our  stuff  to  Boonville,  and  started  about  noon 
of  the  19th  of  June.  We  disturbed  nothing  and  took  nothing 
except  as  stated,  and  tried  to  make  as  good  an  impression  as 
possible.  It  was  very  gentlemanly  and  very  humane,  but  it  was 
not  war.  We  marched  that  day  fourteen  miles  to  a  town  called 
11  Bunker  Hill."  I  do  not  find  it  on  a  post  bellum  map.  I  guess 
that  during  the  war  the  name  was  not  relished,  and  was  changed. 
Here  a  man  came  into  our  camp;  he  was  shot  through  the 
arm  in  the  Boonville  fight.  He  said  that  some  of  Lyon's  men 
charged  them  and  fought,  and  fired  and  loaded  " lying  on  the 
ground;"  he  said,  " that's  what  whipped  us."  He  then  said  he 
had  had  enough  of  war,  and  also,  "damn  the  Dutch."  We  were 
immensely  tickled  at  the  "fighting  on  the  ground."  That  was 
what  our  company  wanted  to  get  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting 
—it  was  our  strong  suit.  We  had  worn  out  our  uniforms  at  it, 
rolling  on  the  ground. 


124  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


We  had  in  our  company  two  round-headed  boys  who  had 
their  hair  clipped  as  short  as  it  was  possible  to  be  done  with 
scissors.  One  was  named  "Big  Baldy,"  the  other,  "Little 
Baldy,"  which  names  were  contracted  to  "Bawly."  At  Bunker 
Hill,  Little  Bawly  wandered  from  camp  and  came  onto  three 
horses  tied  in  the  woods,  and  some  washing,  not  dry,  hanging 
on  the  bushes ;  Bawly  gathered  them  in.  Another  found  a 
coat  containing  the  dispatches  which  had  been  sent  by  our 
colonel  to  General  Lyon,  showing  that  the  messengers  had  been 
waylaid  and  killed.  Scouts  going  out  from  our  camp  in  every 
direction  saw  horsemen;  few  of  them  had  guns.  They  seemed 
to  be  retreating  from  Boonville  and  yet  spying  our  position. 
Many  shots  were  fired,  but  no  damage  done.  We  were  told  at 
Bunker  Hill  that  Lyon  was  in  a  trap,  that  he  could  not  get  out, 
that  the  seccsh  had  surrounded  him,  that  their  batteries  had 
closed  the  river  below  him,  and  that  we  could  not  get  to  him 
without  a  fight. 

On  the  Morning  of  June  20th  we  were  called  at  2  o'clock 
in  the  morning:  an  advance  guard  sent  out;  a  flank  patrol 
organized,  and  we  started  the  column  at  4  o'clock.  The  march 
was  in  close  order,  protecting  our  wagons  and  flanks  and  ready 
for  an  attack.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we  were  surrounded  by 
double  our  numbers,  but  they  could  not  get  an  advantage  for 
attack.  They  were  poorly  organized,  and  we  went  through,  to 
near  the  Missouri  river,  a  distance  marched  that  day  of  17  miles. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  march  I  had  been  on  the  rear 
guard,  which  was  the  dangerous  place,  and  when  I  got  into 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  125 


camp  the  teams  were  unhitched  and  supper  was  ready.  There 
never  was  a  more  exhausted  mudsill  than  I  was;  the  day  had 
been  hot,  and  17  miles  in  the  sun  carrying  my  accouterments, 
and  above  all  the  old  "smoke-pole/'  which  by  evening  weighed 
a  ton,  about  used  me  up.  I  did  not  get  into  camp  until  9  P.  M; 
I  sat  down  on  a  wagon-tongue;  the  boys  were  lying  all  around, 
sleeping  every  which  way.  Old  Mace  brought  me  a  tin  cup 
of  coffee;  it  was  too  hot.  I  was  too  tired  to  eat.  I  set  the 
coffee  down  on  the  ground  to  cool;  I  then  slid  over  backwards 
on  the  ground,  my  legs  over  the  wagon-tongue,  and  I  slept  until 
dawn;  I  then  freed  myself  of  the  tongue,  drank  the  cold  coffee, 
and  crawled  under  the  wagon  and  went  to  sleep  again.  \Ye 
were  in  the  middle  of  a  road,  but  it  was  a  good-enough  place  to 
sleep.  At  eight  o'clock  I  was  awakened  by  Old  Mace.  I  was 
feeling  splendidly,  but  the  blisters  on  my  feet  were  painful. 
I  ate  a  breakfast  and  proceeded  to  examine  my  condition.  I 
had  about  five  good  large  blisters  on  each  foot,  well  filled  with 
serum.  Mace  took  a  pin,  and,  digging  in  some  distance  from 
the  side,  sluiced  them  off;  adding,  "Yous  will  get  used  to  that, 
Massa  Link;  yous  will  come  out  all  right,  Massa  Link."  Dur 
ing  this  day,  June  20th,  we  marched  through  the  beautiful 
village  of  Fayette.  Beside  the  public  square  a  fine  tall  polo 
had  been  flying  the  rebel  flag.  The  flag  was  taken  down  be 
fore  our  arrival,  but  we  chopped  down  the  polo  as  we  passed, 
on  the  theory  that  it  was  guilty  of  treason  punishable  with 
death.  Here  we  also  got  some  beef  cattle,  probably  purchased 
by  the  quartermaster  because  our  boys  had  condemned  the 


126  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

pork  and  wanted  beef.  When  we  reached  the  Missouri  river 
we  found  catfish  for  sale,  and  sassafras  bark;  so  we  added  to 
our  cuisine  catfish  and  sassafras  tea.  Bill  Huestis  said,  "We 
have  struck  cinnamon  seed  and  sandy  bottom/'  which  was  a 
quotation  from  "  Dixie." 


MAPOFTHE  ROUTE! 
OF  THE 

£1  IOWA  INFANTRY, 

FROM  KEOKUK,IOWA 

TO 

BOONVI  LLE.MIS50URI 
JUNE  13.1661 

TO  JUNE  £1.1861. 


A  U    D    R   A  I    N 


MONT60MERV 


CALL AWAY 


CHAPTER  12. 

Juno  21st. — Boots. — Lyon  and  Blair. — Our  Steamboat. — Colonel  Bates 
Rebuked. — Fishing. — June  22d. — Captain  won't  Resign. — Corporals  Re 
duced.— June  23d. — Steamboats  on  the  Mississippi. — Fletch  Brande- 
bury. —  Ballads. — June  24th. — Camping  on  Fair  Grounds. — The  Can 
non. — Breaking  Horses  and  Mules. — Midnight  Bray. — Warned  to  be 
Ready. — June  25th. — Wagons  and  Wagon  Mules. — The  Jerk-Line. — 
Accidents. — The  Colonel.- — June  26th. — Ammunition. — Minie  Bullet. — 
The  Cartridge. — Cartridge-Box. — Pay  for  State  Service. — Clothing. — 
Stopping  the  Bray. — Grimes  and  the  Mule. 

On  the  Morning  of  June  21st  we  were  called  at  4  A.  M.  I 
found  that  I  could  not  get  my  boots  on.  Several  others  were 
in  the  same  fix.  I  had  a  pair  of  French  calf  boots,  which  were 
the  correct  and  stylish  toggery  of  a  young  man  of  the  period. 
I  had  had  them  made,  and  they  fitted  me  beautifully  tight.  Tight 
boots  and  corns  were  fashionable.  There  were  others  like  me, 
and  there  were1  several  of  us  who  found  that  our  feet  had  swelled 
and  that  our  boots  would  not  go  on.  I  took  a  knife  and  with 
sad  compunction  I  slit  the  boots  down  the  instep,  and  drew 
them  on,  and  (I  don't  like  to  admit  it)  I  found  that  corns  well 
developed  on  both  feet  were  giving  me  great  pain.  Corporal 
Bill  strode  along  in  a  great  pair  of  easy- fit  ting  top  boots  and  I 
envied  him  much.  We  reached  the  Missouri  river  opposite 
Boonville  and  a  ferry-boat  came  and  took  us  aboard.  The 
river  was  high  and  bank-full.  We  could  see  tents  across  the 
river  among  the  trees  below  Boonville  back  of  the  river  upon 

(127) 


128  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


the  hill.  It  was  the  Cooper  County  Fair  Ground.  A  large 
stone-quarry  had  been  opened  on  the  river-bank,  and  about 
an  acre  of  level  stone  uncovered.  It  was  a  shipping-point  for 
stone  on  barges  to  St.  Louis.  The  river  had  risen  to  within  six 
inches  of  this  level  ledge  of  rock.  There  were  two  men  alone 
at  its  edge  watching  our  boat  come  across.  We  rounded  near 
them;  one  had  blue  army  pants,  a  linen  coat  and  a  black  felt 
hat;  it  was  Lyon.  The  other  was  dressed  in  citizen's  clothes 
with  an  army  cap,  and  he  stooped  and  dipped  a  long  black 
bottle  into  the  raging  Missouri.  While  he  churned  the  bottle 
up  and  down,  he  watched  us  and  turned  up  his  face  ever  and 
anon  to  talk  with  Lyon,  who  was  gazing  at  us  through  a  field- 
glass.  Some  employe  of  the  boat  gave  out  the  information, 
and  the  news  circulated,  "The  man  with  a  hat  is  Lyon."  I 
wanted  to  know  who  the  other  was,  and  I  finally  found  out 
from  the  pilot ;  it  was  Frank  P.  Blair,  a  most  brave  and  capable 
Union  man.  He  soon  became  a  general  and  one  of  our  idols. 
I  have  often  wondered  what  was  in  that  bottle. 

We  crossed  the  river  and  marched  around,  a  little,  in  sort  of 
review;  Colonel  Lyon  looked  us  over  and  we  went  on  board 
of  a  big  steamboat,  as  a  temporary  camp-ground,  so  that  we 
could  be  run  up  the  river  to  Arrow  Rock,  about  15  miles,  where 
the  secesh  were  reported  to  be  gathering.  Our  captain  left 
the  boat  and  went  up  town,  and  getting  in  with  a  gang  of  other 
officers  of  the  same  brand  went  on  a  wild,  boisterous  drunk. 
At  night  a  strange  rumor  went  around,  among  the  men,  which 
was  afterwards  somewhat  confirmed;  it  was  that  Lyon  had 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  129 


"cussed"  our  colonel  black  and  blue.  "You  are  a  fool,  sir; 
you  ought  to  be  court-martialed,  sir;  you  have  brought  your 
regiment  in  here  all  lounged  up,  sir.  Nobody  but  an  idiot,  sir, 
would  have  marched  raw  troops  like  that,  sir.  There  was  no 
hurry,  the  tight  was  over,  and  you  knew  it,  sir,  and  here  you 
march  your  men — green  men — nearly  15  miles  the  first  day  and 
more  than  that  the  second;  you  ought  to  be  court-martialed, 
sir."  AYhen  we  heard  this  we  enjoyed  it.  Two  of  my  blisters 
as  large  as  half-dollars,  one  under  each  heel,  began  immediately 
to  get  well.  Several  of  the  men  fished  from  the  boat,  and  dur 
ing  the  night  some  fine  catfish  were  caught.  And  Charley 
Stypes  played  the  accordion. 

The  Day  of  June  22,  1861,  was  spent  on  board  of  the  boat, 
but  it  was  an  eventful  day.  Our  captain  was  looking  pretty 
tough.  \Ve  prepared  a  petition  asking  him  to  resign.  The 
movement  was  ethical,  but,  not  military.  I  used  all  of  my 
persuasion  to  get  it  signed,  and  so  did  others;  we  got  seventy- 
two  names,  among  whom  were  two  corporals.  I  was  on  a  com 
mittee  who  presented  it  to  the  captain.  He  told  us  in  a  very 
profane  way  that  he  not  only  would  not  resign,  but  that  he 
would  keep  the  petition  and  make  it  hot  for  the  signers.  He 
was  told  that  if  he  harbored  any  such  feeling  and  went  to  carry 
ing  it  out,  if  the  company  got  into  action  his  life  would  be  in 
great  danger;  thereupon  he  got  frantic,  and  reduced  to  the 
ranks  the  two  corporals  who  had  signed  the  petition;  then 
the  other  two  resigned,  leaving  the  company  without  corporals, 
we  having  but  four.  He  then  appointed  some  new  corporals, 


130  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

and  they  refused  as  such  to  serve.  Then  the  captain  went  to 
a  stateroom,  and  appeared  no  more  for  the  day.  During  the 
night  the  boat  steamed  up  and  down  the  river,  and  moved 
around  considerably  as  if  engaged  in  demonstrations  to  mis 
lead  the  enemy  and  their  spies. 

On  June  twenty- third  quantities  of  supplies  were  unloaded 
at  Boonville;  there  wore  eleven  large  steamboats  there  from 
St.  Louis.  They  were  a  fine  lot  of  boats.  In  those  days  there 
were  palaces  floating  all  over  the  Western  rivers.  Fulton  had 
hardly  got  a  steamboat  to  working  when  its  usefulness  upon 
the  Western  waters  was  considered.  Within  five  years  boat 
building  began  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  in  twelve  years  from  the 
date  of  the  invention  there  were  50  steamboats  on  the  Western 
rivers.  They  averaged  then  150  tons  burden,  and  the  largest 
(in  1819)  was  the  "United  States/7  of  500  tons  burden,  and  the 
next  was  the  "  Columbus,"  of  400  tons.  In  1849  they  had  greatly 
increased,  and  during  that  year  at  St.  Louis  I  counted  at  the 
wharf  49  steamboats.  I  remembered  the  coincidence  that 
there  were;  49  steamboats  in  the  year  '49.  The  golden  era  of 
steamboating  was  from  then  to  the  Civil  War.  It  took  the 
largest  and  strongest  boats  to  stem  the  current  of  the  Missouri 
river,  and  these  were  the  boats  Colonel  Lyon  had— and  they 
made  a  most  imposing  appearance.  As  a  camp-ground  one  of 
them  could  not  be  excelled.  Our  captain  would  not  let  us  go 
off  from  the  boat  all  day.  At  night  there  was  shooting  from 
distant  points  along  the  river.  Bushwacking  secesh  wanted 
to  try  their  rifles  at  long  range  on  the  brilliantly  lighted  steam- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  131 

boats.  Up  to  this  time  two  of  our  men  had  been  slightly 
wounded,  one  at  Macon  City  and  the  other  somewhere  on  the 
road  to  Boonville.  On  the  steamboat  the  boys  did  their  wash 
ing  and  mending,  wrote  great  quantities  of  letters,  and  per 
fected  themselves  in  poker.  The  poker  games  here  assumed 
an  importance  never  again  enjoyed,  and  we  afterwards  sighed 
for  them  and  the  catfish  which  we  found  in  the  Missouri  river. 
We  were  still  out  of  corporals,  but  did  not  need  any  at  that 
particular  time. 

One  of  the  particular  events  of  our  steamboat  imprisonment 
was  the  development  of  Fletch  Brandebury  (borne  upon  the 
rolls  as  1  see  now  as  \Ym.  V.  Brandeburg)  as  the  boss  ballad- 
singer  of  the  regiment.  He  was  a  kind,  jolly-hearted,  true- 
blue  printer,  with  a  beautiful  voice  and  a  distinct  musical  gift. 
lie  learned  every  song  that  was  sung;  he  bought  every  book 
that  had  a  song  in  it.  lie  organized  some  of  the  boys  to  help 
him,  and  in  the  contest  for  popularity  in  song  he  won  the  su 
premacy  in  the  regiment.  Those  were  the  days  of  ballads. 
1  could  give  a  page  list  of  them,  but  it  would  be  a  useless  task; 
they  are  gone  and  forgotten.  "Old  Black  Jo"  had  just  come 
out — it  still  survives — some.  But  the  "Camptown  Races," 
and  " Trancadillo "  and  "Ellen  Bayne,"  and  a  hundred  others 
of  that  ballad  age,  to  which  we  listened  with  rapture,  are  for 
ever  silent.  All  countries  and  all  governments  are  safe  during 
their  ballad  age.  A  ballad  will  win  a  battle.  The  fighters 
are  the  singers.  Dyspepsia  cannot  achieve  a  campaign.  Dear 
old  Fletch!  he  lived  to  a  ripe  age;  he  is  now  with  the  majority, 


132  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


peace  to  him.     If  there  be  angels,  and  if  they  sing,  Fie.  tch  is  in 
charge  of  a  brigade. 

On  Monday,  June  24th,  after  having  been  on  the  boat  three 
days,  we  left  it  and  moved  up  into  the  Boonvillc  fair-ground 
and  pitched  our  tents  along  with  the  other  troops.  Not  far 
from  us  was  a  large  and  curious  mound,  and  it  was  being  forti 
fied.  We  all  went  and  looked  at  the  cannon.  It  was  our 
first  view  of  artillery.  There4  was  a  fine  battery,  and  we  ex 
amined  it  and  reexaniined  it  and  asked  questions  until  we  knew 
all  about  it.  The  artillery  boys  were  very  kind,  and  did  not 
tire  in  explaining  everything.  The  steamboats  were  constantly 
going  and  coming,  and  officers  were  buying  mules  and  putting 
them  into  a  big  corral;  wagons  were  being  fixed  up  with  bows 
and  covers.  A  big  circus  was  constantly  going  on  in  the  breaking 
of  horses  and  mules.  It  was  fun,  and  we  would  volunteer  our 
help.  The  wagon-boss  would  give  us  a  horse  to  break  or  a 
mule  to  harness;  it  was  all  clear  fun;  besides,  we  were  hurry 
ing  up  the  campaign.  1C  very  once  in  a  while  a  man  was  thrown 
off  and  stood  on  his  head  by  a  horse  he  attempted  to  ride,  and 
was  taken  to  the  hospital  with  the  man  who  got  kicked  by  a 
mule;  but  it  checked  no  one,  and  only  in  fact  added  to  the  in 
terest  of  the  occasion.  Here  we  learned  an  interesting  fact  in 
the  natural  history  of  tin?  Missouri  army  mule,  and  that  was 
that  the  mule  wanted  to  bray  at  precisely  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  just  the  same  as  a  rooster  who  wanted  to  crow  at  that 
time.  At  our  regimental  headquarters  was  a  covered  farm 
wagon  with  a  team  of  strong  Missouri  mules.  At  midnight  one 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  133 

of  them  in  the  dark  silence  would  send  off  a  loud,  self-conceited, 
egotistical  bray.  It  would  be  taken  up  here  and  there  until  the 
camp  was  in  a  perfect  uproar,  and  this  would  continue  for  several 
minutes  until  it  finally  died  down  into  silence.  Our  mules  kept  up 
this  habit  all  during  the  campaign.  How  they  could  come  so 
near  guessing  midnight  was  a  puzzle  to  us.  They  were  entirely 
ignorant  of  astronomy  except  as  they  were  in  the  habit  of  ob 
serving  some  one  coming  down  whom  they  had  sent  up.  Corpo 
ral  Churubusco  said  it  was  the  same  during  the  Mexican  War, 
and  that  they  stopped  the  mules  from  braying  at  midnight  by 
tying  weights  to  their  tails.  We  put  this  information  into  our 
scrap-book.  At  dress -parade  this  day  we  were  told  to  keep 
ourselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  any  minute's  notice,  and  were 
told  that  no  one  was  to  have  a  pass,  even  to  go  uptown. 

On  June  25th  Everything  was  Drill.  Our  company  drilled 
all  the  forenoon,  and  all  the  afternoon  on  skirmish  drill.  It  is 
strange  how  quickly  some  persons  forget  the  bugle-calls.  Skir 
mish  drill  required  constant  work  and  attention.  Our  feet  were 
getting  into  better  condition.  Not  only  were  we  drilling,  but 
everybody  else  was  drilling.  The  quartermaster  was  drilling; 
the  teams  were  hitched  up,  and  a  load  of  some  kind  put  in  the 
wagons,  and  with  a  couple  of  soldiers  the  teams  were  driven 
around  to  get  the  mules  bridlewise.  There  was  always  a  team 
running  away  and  somebody  being  sent  to  the  hospital;  it  was 
very  interesting  and  exciting  to  watch  the  development  of  the; 
transportation.  There  were  a  large  lot  of  heavy  Government 
wagons  bearing  the  name  "Espenchied,"  probably  the  name 


134  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


of  the  maker.  They  were  drawn  by  six  mules  each,  in  pairs 
designated  as  the  "lead"  mules,  the  " swing/'  and  the  "wheel." 
The  driver  rode  the  nigh  wheel  mule  (left-hand  mule)  and 
drove  with  a  single  line,  a  big  whip,  and  his  mouth.  The  driver's 
line  was  called  a  "jerk-line/'  and  he  jerked  it  to  make  them 
"gee"  to  the  right,  and  gave  a  strong  steady  pull  to  make  them 
"haw"  to  the  left.  The  other  wagons  were  farm  wagons  bought 
or  impressed  at  Boonville,  with  extemporized  covers,  made 
of  paulins,  tent-flies,  or  anything  that  could  be  got.  Colonel 
Lyon  was  working  as  hard  and  as  fast  as  possible  to  organize 
a  transportation  train.  The  secesh  on  their  part  were  im 
pressing  wagons  and  teams  all  around  us  from  the  willing  people, 
to  organize  a  transportation  equipment  of  their  own.  Neither 
army  could  march  without  transportation,  and  neither  then 
dared  to  depend  upon  the  country  for  supplies.  So  the  break 
ing  in  of  raw  animals  and  the  organization  of  a  transportation 
department  was  a  matter  of  great  interest,  and  one  into  which 
we  entered  with  much  zest  and  enthusiasm.  Mules  and  horses 
were  constantly  breaking  loose  and  running  over  everything, 
and  knocking  down  tents.  Once  at  night,  i  was  detailed  at 
regimental  headquarters  to  guard  the  colonel's  tent.  I  got 
myself  up  in  as  good  shape  as  possible  and  did  my  duty  in  the 
best  possible  style.  Our  colonel  was  a  man  whom  at  that  time 
we  had  got  to  liking  some.  He  was  a  fine-looking  young  man, 
and  was  kind  in  his  personal  relations  with  his  men.  When 
ever  he  was  uptown  and  met  some  of  his  men  he  always  asked 
them  in  to  take  a  drink,  or  when  they  were  on  duty  at  his  head- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  LVFAXTRY.  135 


quarters  he  always  offered  them  a  cigar,  lie  was  a  good  deal 
of  a  county  politician,  but  somehow  he  was  not  a  military  man 
and  could  not  be  made  one.  Of  course  we  did  not  know  it  at 
the  time,  and  thought  he  might,  be  a  Napoleon,  and  we  would 
have  followed  him  into  anything.  He  had  a  loud,  resonant  voice 
that  could  be  clearly  heard  at  a  great  distance,  and  on  dress- 
parade  he  was  a  charming  picture;  we  were  proud  of  him  on 
such  occasions,  and  he  was  very  proud  of  us.  Much  as  I  dis 
like  to  say  so,  he  turned  out  to  be  a  complete  failure.  But  we 
did  not  find  it  out  until  the  last.  He  lacked  the  faculty  of 
military  effort  and  he  lacked  devotion  to  duty.  I  guess  he  was 
indolent  and  led  away  by  social  gravitation.  Now  that  lie  had 
a  man  like  Lyon  over  him  who  told  him  what  to  do,  and  who 
knew  how,  things  seemed  to  go  well  and  we  got  to  liking  him. 
No  general  of  the  Civil  \Yar  had  a  better  start  than  our  Colonel, 
but  he  made  poor  use  of  his  advantages,  as  we  shall  see. 

On  June  26th  our  cartridge-boxes  were  inspected  ;  we  were  all 
supplied  with  forty  rounds  each,  and  with  fifty  percussion  caps 
in  our  cap-boxes.  The  cartridges  were  tough  paper  with  big 
charges  of  coarse  black  powder;  the  ball  was  a  "nrinie"  bullet, 
weighing  an  ounce,  conical  at  the  front  and  with  a  cavity  in  the 
rear  filled  (in  the  cartridge)  with  a  conical  wooden  plug,  so  that 
when  we  rammed  one  down  with  our  concave-pointed  steel  ram 
rods  the  ball  was  spread  so  as  to  tightly  fit  the  smooth-bore 
barrel.  The  ball  was  somewhat  errant  in  its  flight,  but  if  it  hit 
a  man  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  it  paralyzed  him.  The  shooter 
had  time  to  recover  from  the  "kick"  by  the  time  he  had  got  the 


136  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


gun  reloaded.  We  bit  off  the  end  of  the  cartridge  with  our  teeth  ; 
when  doing  so  we  always  got  a  few  grains  of  powder  in  our  mouth, 
and  as  the  taste  was  not  unpleasantly  peculiar,  we  chewed  the 
paper  which  we  had  bitten  off,  and  by  the  time  we  had  fired  a 
few  times  we  had  a  good  wad  of  paper  in  our  mouths  which  we 
would  chew  as  a  school-girl  would  chew  gum.  The  cartridge- 
box  when  loaded  weighed  four  pounds.  We  were  now  told  that 
the  cartridges  did  not  belong  to  us  but  to  the  Government,  and 
that  if  we  wasted  any  of  them  we  would  be  charged  10  cents 
each.  We  were  also  told  that  we  would  be  held  responsible  for 
their  getting  wet.  And  that  a  record  would  be  kept  of  all  we 
were  ordered  to  fire,  and  that  if  we  fired  one  without  orders  it 
would  be  charged  to  us.  We  were  also  told  that  ammunition 
was  scarce,  and  that  we  must  be  careful,  and  that  anyone  will 
fully  wasting  any  or  stealing  any  would  go  under  guard  and  suf 
fer  on  the  payroll  besides. 

Upon  this  day  our  company  was  paid  for  its  State  service; 
that  is,  for  its  service  prior  to  being  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service  by  Captain  Chambers.  The  amount  which  was 
paid  to  me  was  $9.15.  I  still  had  some  little  money,  and  my 
blue-gray  satinet  hunting-shirt  uniform,  which  we  called  a 
"waumus,"  being  somewhat  ragged,  I  concluded  to  get  me  a 
good  durable  woolen  overshirt.  It  was  coarse  and  gray  and 
strong,  and  cost  me  three  dollars.  My  Government  ought  to 
have  furnished  it,  but  my  Government  was  having  a  mighty 
tough  time  of  it  just  then,  from  Cape  May  to  Kansas,  trying  to 
keep  alive,  and  was  not  able  to  do  much  for  the  boys.  The 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  137 


rebel*  had  got  the  first  and  best  of  everything.  They  had  had 
the  Government  for  many  years,  and  we  were  forced  to  wait. 
This  night  Corporals  Bill  and  Churubusco  (both  now  reduced  to 
the  ranks)  determined  to  try  the  theory  in  regard  to  stopping  a 
mule  from  braying  at  midnight;  so  we  got  tough  sections  of  a 
coffee-bag  and  put  in  about  five  pounds  of  sand,  and  with  a 
tough  cord  proceeded  to  make  two  weights,  one  each  for  the  two 
mules.  Our  comrade  Grimes  professed  to  understand  mule  na 
ture,  and  wanted  to  go  with  us  and  do  the  skilled  labor  of  the 
enterprise;  we  said  "nay,"  but  let  him  go  along.  The  job  was 
accomplished  without  any  trouble  whatever,  at  about  11:45 
p.  M.  In  a  little  while  the  boss  rnule  named  "Smollix"  got 
restive;  then  he  stood  on  his  hind  feet;  then  he  stood  on  his  fore 
feet  and  kicked  holes  in  the  atmosphere;  then  he  got  frantic  and 
squealed.  Then  he  broke  loose  and  reared  and  pawed  the  air, 
then  stood  on  his  fore  feet  and  looked  at  the  horizon  from  be 
tween  his  knees.  Such  an  acrobatic  mule  I  had  never  up  to 
that  time  seen,  although  since  that  time  I  have  ridden  them  while 
they  were  thus  engaged.  We  called  on  Grimes  to  quiet  the  mule ; 
the  number  of  bystanders  was  becoming  numerous,  and  Grimes 
with  simple  and  unblended  intrepidity  proceeded  to  accomplish 
the  job.  We  stood  back  and  watched  him.  The  crowd  gath 
ered,  and  up  came  the  officer  of  the  day,  and  the  major,  and  at 
last  the  teamster.  We  went  to  bed  while  the  circus  was  going 
on,  having  full  confidence  in  the  ultimate  success  of  Grimes. 
Finally  the  sack  was  amputated  from  the  mule's  tail,  and  Grimes 
went  to  the  guard-house  declaring  that  he  was  "too  much  of  a 


138  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

gentleman  to  tell  who  the  damn  scoundrels  were  who  put  up  the 
job.7'  We  listened  from  our  tent,  and  hearing  no  loud,  sonorous 
braying  characteristic  of  the  former  midnight  performance,  pro 
nounced  the  former  statement  of  Corporal  Churubusco  to  be 
philosophic  and  truthful,  and  the  experiment  a  successful  sci 
entific  achievement.  And  we  sympathized  with  Grimes — he 
was  a  gentleman,  all  right. 


CHAPTER  13. 

Juno  27th. — Inspection  of  Anns. — Brogans  arid  Socks. — Mess  Assignments. 
— Revolvers. — Skirmish  Drill. — Boonville  Petition. — June  28th. — Dis_ 
loyal  Officers. — Captain  under  Ban. — Company  not  Fooled. — Rain. — 
Tents  not  Good. — June  29th. —  Inspection  of  Ammunition. — Fatigue 
Duty. — Boonville  Exhibition  Drills. — Captain,  and  the  Hog. — Indig 
nation  Meetings. — What  the  Field  Officers  Said. — The  Captain  Goes. — 
Lieutenant  takes  Command. — June  30th. — Regimental  Muster. — The 
Ration. — Wagon  Train  Deficient. — The  Yellowstone  Steamboat. — The 
Pioneer  and  Trapper. — The  Soldier  of  1812. — "Soldier,  will  you  work?" 

On  June  27th  we  luul  a  grand  inspection  of  arms.  Every 
man  was  carefully  examined  as  to  his  physical  condition  and  as 
to  his  arms  and  ammunition.  It  was  an  exceedingly  thorough 
inspection  by  officers  appointed  by  Lyon  from  the  regular  army. 
The  condition  of  our  guns  and  ammunition  was  minutely  scru 
tinized.  I  also  made  on  this  day  one  of  the  greatest  business 
transactions  of  my  life.  I  found  a  man  who  had  drawn  a  smaller 
pair  of  feet  than  myself  and  I  traded  my  French  calf  boots  for  a 
new  pair  of  shoes  to  be  bought  for  me  at  the  store  in  Boonville. 
The  Government  had  no  shoes  to  issue1  to  us,  so  we  did  the  best 
we  could.  I  went  up  town  and  picked  out  a  strong,  substantial 
pair  of  "brogans,"  had  the  inside  pegs  rasped  down  and  the  soles 
pounded  flat  inside  and  out.  I  also  bought  two  pairs  of  home- 
woven,  country-made  wool  socks.  I  was  now  ready  for  the  field. 
This  was  the  first  pair  of  shoes  that  I  had  ever  worn ;  had  always 
worn  boots.  Our  mess  also  prepared  for  the  campaign  by  as- 

(139) 


140  THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 

signing  to  each  the  duty  of  carrying  something  for  common  use. 
One  carried  a  razor,  another  a  little  looking-glass.  I  carried  the 
needles  and  thread,  another  the  deck  of  cards,  and  so  on.  As 
we  honed  our  razor  on  Bill's  boots,  we  carried  nothing  for  that. 
Several  of  us  had  nice  revolvers ;  these  were  taken  away  and  we 
were  told  that  we  must  rely  upon  our  muskets  and  bayonets. 
We  were  still  without  corporals,  and  as  no  one  would  take  the 
offices,  men  were  detailed  from  time  to  time  to  act  as  corporals. 
We  saw  not  much  of  our  captain.  The  fortifications  at  Boon- 
ville  were  finished,  and  were  strong.  The  people  there  were 
with  us,  owing  to  the  large  German  population.  Many  of  these 
Germans  were  employed  in  the  various  civil  branches  of  cam 
paign  service  because  they  could  be  trusted.  They  were  in  the 
commissary  and  quartermaster's  departments,  and  as  mechanics. 
Our  company  drill  attracted  much  attention,  and  Colonel  Bates 
said  that  our  skirmish  drill  was  admitted  to  be  the  best  of  any  of 
the  troops.  Disinterested  people  said  we  beat  the  regulars. 
The  people  of  Boonville  got  up  a  petition  to  Lyon  asking  that  if 
any  men  could  be  spared  to  guard  the  town  when  he  went  away 
that  he  leave  the  First  Iowa  Infantry  there.  We  felt  compli 
mented,  but  said  uNo."  We  wanted  to  go  with  Lyon  and  take 
part  in  the  campaign. 

On  June  28th  it  rained  so  hard  from  sunrise  to  noon  that  we 
stayed  in  our  tents  and  read  up  the  army  news.  The  whole 
country  North  and  South  was  seething.  A  civil  war  was  a  new 
thing.  It  was  not  capable  of  being  handled  upon  the  same  prin 
ciples  and  in  the  same  way  as  an  ordinary  war  against  an  outside 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  141 


enemy.  Men  were  getting  into  the  army  on  account  of  a  thirst 
for  office,  and  wearing  shoulder-straps,  who  did  not  care  a  snap 
which  side  won.  Of  course  they  were  not  many;  they  were  here 
and  there,  but  they  were  a  very  dangerous  lot.  I  was  afterwards 
in  a  regiment  whose  colonel,  named  H.  H.  Heath,  of  Dubuque, 
Iowa,  was  one  of  these  untrustworthy  officers,  and  who  fell  under 
the  ban  of  the  soldiers.  After  the  war,  the  correspondence  of 
this  man  Heath  was  found  in  the  rebel  archives,  in  which  he  had 
offered  to  Jeff  Davis  to  go  South  and  fight  for  secession  if  he 
could  be  made  a  general.  This  letter  was  smuggled  through 
the  lines  to  the  South,  and  was  long  afterwards  read  on  the  floor 
of  Congress.  This  sort  of  officers  could  fool  the  people  above 
them ;  they  could  generally  deceive  their  superior  officers,  but 
they  could  never  deceive4  the  men.  The  soldiers  were  loyal; 
they  were  not  in  for  the  purpose  of  getting  office,  they  were  in 
to  put  down  the  rebellion.  Every  company  had  men  who  were 
brighter  and  abler  than  all  their  officers,  and  these  men,  though 
only  musket-bearers,  wore  the  real  leaders  of  the  company. 
They  were  the  ones  who  made  up  the  mind  of  the  company  and 
gave  it  its  excellence.  There  were  three  or  four  of  the  officers  of 
our  regiment  who  fell  under  the  ban,  when  our  three-months 
service  extended  to  four;  and  after  we  were  mustered  out  these 
officers  never  reentered  the  service.  Among  those  who  fell  under 
the  ban  was  our  captain.  We  began  to  discuss  him  on  June 
28th.  He  said  something  that  gave  rise  to  it.  He  was  from 
Baltimore,  that  had  mobbed  a  Massachusetts  regiment.  He 
was  from  a  slave  State.  He  had  no  devotion  to  his  task.  We 


142  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

talked  it  over  in  the  tents.  We  were  about  to  start  out  and 
fight  the  rebel  General  Price,  and  we  all  agreed  that  the  captain 
would  get  the  first  bullet  if  he  did  not  stand  up  loyally  to  the 
work.  No  company  officer  can  fool  his  men.  They  soon  com 
pare  notes  and  discuss  him,  and  in  a  very  short  time  they  know 
him  better  than  he  knows  himself.  The  company  is  accurate, 
arid  is  never  fooled  on  its  officers. 

It  cleared  off  in  the  afternoon,  and  our  company  went  out  to 
give  an  exhibition  drill  under  the  command  of  our  orderly  ser 
geant,  Jo  Utter.  This  drill  was  gone  through  on  the  theory  that 
if  we  got  into  an  engagement  and  the  officers  were  killed  off  the 
non-commissioned  officers  would  have  to  take  command  and 
they  must  know  how.  We  found  out  that  Jo  Utter,  our  first 
sergeant,  was  as  capable  to  command  and  drill  the  company  as 
the  captain.  We  all  liked  Utter.  Our  drill  was  watched  by  a 
large  number  of  the  regulars,  and  when  we  came  in  they  cheered 
us.  That  night  it  rained  all  night.  Our  tents  were  light,  per 
haps  six-ounce  duck.  We  were  drenched  through.  The  tents 
could  not  keep  out  the  water.  They  were  such  as  had  been 
hastily  made  from  material  such  as  the  Government  could  get, 
in  St.  Louis,  and  were  entirely  unsuited  to  a  campaign.  The 
secesh  had  got  all  of  the  heavy  duck. 

On  June  29th  the  sun  rose  hot  and  powerful.  We  got  out 
and  dried  ourselves  and  everything.  We  did  not  get  fires  burn 
ing  until  about  noon.  We  worked  around  and  munched  wet 
crackers ;  we  lost  much  of  our  mess  rations,  but  we  had  kept  our 
ammunition  dry.  At  ten  o'clock  we  had  an  inspection  of  am- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  143 


munition.  The  company  was  drawn  up  in  line,  and  the  ammu 
nition  was  carefully  examined  to  see  if  it  had  been  wet.  Two  or 
three  of  the  boys  had  been  careless,  so  their  damaged  ammuni 
tion  was  charged  up  to  them  on  the  payroll  and  they  were  put 
-on  fatigue  duty  besides.  Fatigue  duty  in  this  camp  was  quite 
severe.  There  were  lots  of  hard  work  to  do  and  the  bosses  were 
unsympathetic.  At  noon  the  captain  announced  that  after  din 
ner  (in  those  days  " dinners"  were  at  noon)  our  company  would 
go  uptown  and  give  an  exhibition  drill,  at  the  request  of  the 
citizens.  At  two  P.  M.  we  started.  The  captain  wore  his  can 
teen.  We  drilled  all  sorts  of  drill  to  a  great  crowd,  out  on  a  wide 
strip  of  vacant  property,  of  which  there  was  much  then  in  Boon- 
ville.  Twice  some4  German  citizens  invited  the  captain  to  march 
us  down  to  a  near  beer-saloon  and  get  a  glass  of  beer,  which  was 
done,  and  then  we  took  hold  again  at  our  drill  with  renewed 
energy  and  purpose.  The  throng  gathered  and  they  cheered  us 
much.  Finally  the  drill  ended  and  our  captain  was  drunk.  The 
weather  was  hot  and  his  canteen  had  got  the  best  of  him.  We, 
started  back  to  camp;  it  must  have  been  over  two  miles  (I  am 
guessing),  and  the  big  crowd  was  following  us  back  to  the  heart 
of  the  city.  A  big  hog  lying  asleep  in  the  dog-fennel  by  the 
road  jumped  up  frightened,  and,  with  a  snort,  cut  up  some 
capers.  The  captain  drew  his  sword  and  started  after  that  hog; 
both  were  soon  in  the  rear;  the  race  was  a  close  one  and  the 
crowd  yelled.  We  felt  exceedingly  disgraced,  but  marched  on, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  left.  The  captain  yelled  halt  at 
us,  and  kept  after  the  hog,  but  our  First  Lieutenant  said/' For- 


144  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ward!"  That  is  the  last  that  I  ever  remember  of  seeing  the 
captain.  We  reached  our  camp  and  broke  ranks,  and  each  tent 
was  filled  with  an  indignation  meeting.  It  was  felt  to  be  a 
burning  disgrace.  We  had  lost  out  on  Boonville,  where  the  peo 
ple  had  wanted  us  to  stay.  The  feeling  was  so  bitter  that  if  the 
captain  had  been  there  the  boys  would  have  torn  his  uniform 
off.  We  formed  our  plans,  and  they  were  carried  out  as  follows : 
We  went  to  the  Colonel's  tent  and  related  the  facts  concerning 
the  Captain,  and  our  deep  mortification  thereat,  and  stated  our 
belief  that  he  was  secesh.  The  Colonel  listened  without  interest, 
and  when  we  closed  he  asked,  "Did  he  catch  the  hog?"  I 
turned  in  disgust,  and  my  associates  followed — the  Colonel's 
question  was  not  answered.  We  then  went  to  the  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  told  our  story.  He  said,  "I  am  not  in  command  of 
this  regiment."  We  then  went  to  the  Major,  and  when  we  had 
finished  he  said,  "The  d — n  fool."  We  then  went  to  the  Ad 
jutant,  a  little,  lean,  brainy,  sensible  young  man,  and  told  our 
story.  He  said:  "I  cannot  act;  if  you  have  got  anything  to 
say,  put  it  in  writing;  file  your  charges." 

I  have  often  wondered  how  the  officers  of  that  period  got  such 
bad  cases  of  swell-head.  It  was  perhaps  because  they  were  no 
bodies  when  they  went  in.  Men  must  get  acclimated  to  power 
or  they  will  handle  it  foolishly.  Power,  unless  it  comes  slowly, 
spoils  its  possessor.  Men  and  families  must  become  acclimated 
to  power  the  same  as  to  wealth,  or  it  will  make  fools  of  them,  or 
lead  them  into  disgrace.  Here  it  was,  in  our  regiment,  that  the 
field  officers  could  not  listen  to  and  redress  a  flagrant  military 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  145 

wrong.  They  could  not  do  the  right  and  proper  thing.  They 
were  alive  only  to  the  subjects  of  their  own  separate  im 
portances.  They  could  not  get  down  low  enough  to  do  a  private 
soldier  justice.  Grant  could,  and  Sherman  could,  and  Thomas 
could,  and  Lee  could,  and  so  could  other  great  generals.  Our 
field  officers  were  not  Grants,  Shermans,  Thomases,  or  Lees,  and 
hence  we  never  have  since  heard  of  them,  and  their  names  do 
not  appear  in  history,  and  ought  not  to.  We  were  disgusted. 

Somebody  must  have  told  General  Lyon.  Probably  he  got 
it  from  the  people  of  Boonville.  Nobody  knows;  we  never 
knew.  The  records  of  the  War  Department  show  the  following: 
"  George  F.  Streaper,  absent  in  arrest  in  Keokuk  since1  July  1, 
1861."  The  above  sentence  is  on  the  August  muster-rolls  of  the 
regiment.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  put  onto  a  steamboat  and 
hustled  off.  There  was  a  rumor  afterwards  that  Streaper  got 
into  a  Missouri  militia  regiment,  as  Second  Lieutenant,  and  quit 
in  January,  1862,  after  three  months'  service,  to  go  South  and 
join  the  Confederacy,  which  was  at  that  time  in  the  ascendant. 

All  at  once  the  First  Lieutenant,  Abercrombie,  asserted  him 
self.  He  had  sort  of  been  in  the  background.  He  had  been 
handicapped  by  the  jealousy,  envy  an<,l  dislike  of  the  Captain. 
The  Captain  had  been  snubbing  him,  and  keeping  him  dormant. 
He  now  announced  that  he  was  in  command  of  the  company; 
he  restored  all  the  corporals.  We  began  to  get  care  and  atten 
tion.  The  boys  began  to  appreciate  him,  and  no  company  in 
the  service  had  a  better  commander.  That  he  afterwards  be 
came  one  of  the  famous  Iowa  colonels  was  a  natural  sequence. 


146  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

He  was  kindly  and  was  very  brave,  and  shirked  nothing.  /  was 
now  even  on  the  Macon  guard-house  incident.  Good-by,  Strea- 
per;  you  were  one  of  the  thousands  of  worthless  officers  whom 
we  had  to  unload  before  we  could  put  down  the  rebellion.  For 
tunately  the  South  had  the  same  trouble — even  worse. 

On  Sunday,  June  30th,  1861,  the  regiment  was  mustered  in 
the  forenoon,  every  man  in  complete  equipment;  every  man  in 
the  hospital  who  could  stand  in  line  was  there — such  was  the 
order;  it  was  the  annual  muster.  It  seems  that  at  the  end  of 
the  fiscal  year,  on  June  30th,  there  must  be  a  complete  report  of 
the  army.  The  men  on  that  day  present  for  duty,  together  with 
a  complete  inspection,  must  be  reported  to  the  War  Department. 

At  this  time  our  rations,  while  not  quite  up  to  the  army 
standard,  were  excellent  in  quality;  we  lived  on  bread,  beef 
steak,  and  coffee.  In  fact,  over  our  objection  pork  had  not  been 
pushed  on  us,  and  we  drew  only  a  limited  amount  of  it  for  cook 
ing  purposes.  An  army  ration  at  that  time  was  as  follows: 

12  oz.  pork  or  bacon,  or  in  lieu  thereof  20  oz.  fresh  or  salt  beef. 
22  oz.  soft  bread  or  flour;  or  20  oz.  corn-meal,  or  16  oz.  "  hard-tack." 

15  Ibs.  beans  or  peas to  100  rations 

10  Ibs.  rice  or  hominy "     " 

10  Ibs.  green  or  8  Ibs.  roasted  coffee "     " 

In  lieu  of  coffee,  24  oz.  of  tea ' "     " 

15  Ibs.  of  sugar "     " 

1  gallon  of  vinegar "     " 

20  oz.  star  candles "     " 

4  Ibs.  soap "     " 

60  oz.  of  salt "     " 

4  oz.  pepper "     " 

1  quart  of  molasses "     " 

30  Ibs.  of  potatoes  [when  practicable] "     " 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  147 

The  foregoing  were  the  regular  rations,  but  we  never  got  all 
of  them  even  when  in  camp,  and  on  the  march  we  got  what  we 
could  get.  The  cost  of  a  Government  ration  then  was  15  cents, 
and  while  in  camp  at  Boonville  we  commuted  a  lot  of  things,  but 
when  we  got  into  the  field  we  took  what  was  issued  and  foraged 
for  the  rest.  General  Lyon  did  not  have  one-half  of  such  a 
wagon-train  as  he  wanted  or  required,  but  he  could  not  wait 
longer,  and  was  obliged  to  do  the  best  he  could  with  such  a  train 
as  he  had  hastily  organized. 

On  this  day,  June  30th,  I  was  down  at  the  river  swimming, 
when  I  saw  a  steamboat  coining  down.  All  at  once  a  blank  shot 
was  fired  at  it  from  one  of  our  cannon  and  the  boat  rounded 
to;  it  was  the  " Spread  Eagle"  from  the  Yellowstone.  I  went 
aboard;  it  was  piled  full  of  buffalo-hides  and  beaver-skins,  and 
valuable  furs.  Aboard  the  boat  were  some  tough-looking,  long 
haired  trappers  in  buckskin  clothes  and  moccasins.  They  had 
just  heard  of  the  war.  These  were  adventurous  days.  Here 
was  a  boat  that  had  gone  up  the  Missouri  river  two  thousand 
miles  loaded  down  with  fort  supplies  and  Indian  goods;  had 
stayed  all  winter  among  the  Indians  and  been  frozen  in;  and 
come  down  the  next  summer.  In  those  days  pioneering  and 
trapping  were  profitable.  An  industrious  trapper  could  clear 
$2,500  a  year  or  more.  One  of  Daniel  Boone's  grandsons  told 
me  that  he  cleared  an  average  of  $5000  per  year,  but  that  it  was 
a  hard  and  dangerous  life.  It  must  be  remembered  that  at  that 
time  Iowa  was  a  frontier  State,  full  of  Government  land,  and  so 
was  Missouri,  and  the  great  plains  were  covered  with  buffalo. 


148  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


On  this  day  we  were  visited  by  an  old  man  who  had  been  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1812;  and  this  brings  to  mind  that  we  had 
been  also  visited  at  Keokuk  and  at  Macon  City  by  men  who  were 
in  that  war.  How  strange  it  is!  These  men  were  hale  and 
hearty  men  of  from  65  to  70  years  old.  They  all  told  army 
stories  of  that  old  war.  But  the  stories  were  not  new  to  us :  we 
had  heard,  them  as  of  the  Mexican  War;  we  afterwards  told 
them  as  of  the  Civil  War;  and  I  have  since  heard  them  of  the 
Spanish  War.  They  will  not  do  to  print  in  this  particular  book, 
and  have  probably  been  handed  down  from  ancient  days.  Here 
is  an  illustration:  "Soldier,  will  you  work?  No,  I'll  sell  my 
shirt  first."  Another  old  story  which  has  gone  through  all  of 
our  wars  is  the  one  about  the  sentinel  who  halted  the  intoxicated 
officer  at  night.  "Who  comes  there?"  inquires  the  sentinel. 
"You  idiot,"  says  the  officer.  "Advance,  you  idiot,  and  give 
the  countersign,"  replies  the  sentinel. 

Another  is  the  inquiry  of  the  General  before  a  battle  begins 
as  to  the  presence  of  some  petty  officer.  In  the  Revolutionary 
War  it  was  Ensign  O'Donnel.  Before  surrendering,  Cornwallis 
asked  if  Ensign  O'Donnel  was  in  the  opposing  forces.  On  being 
told  by  Washington  that  he  was,  Cornwallis  said,  "Then  I  sur 
render."  In  the  War  of  1812  the  commanding  officer  always 
asked,  before  he  gave  battle,  whether  Corporal  O'Neil  was  pres 
ent.  During  the  Civil  War  the  story  started  in  on  Sergeant 
O'Brien,  and  has  been  retold  as  to  Santiago,  Manila,  and  Pekin. 
It  is  probably  as  old  as  Rome,  or  may  have  started  with  the  battle 
of  Cunaxra,  where  Cyrus,  riding  to  the  front  of  Zenophon's 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  149 

Greek  army  corps,  may  have  asked,  "Is  Phylax  Orion  present?" 
"lie  is,  sor,"  says  Orion,  stepping  to  the  front  and  placing  his 
hand  upon  his  breast.  "Then,"  says  Cyrus,  "let  the  battle  of 
Cunaxra  begin."  This  story  always  has  a  man  whose  name,  as 
the  hero,  begins  with  "0."  I  first  heard  my  grandfather  tell 
the  story  as  of  the  War  of  1812. 


CHAPTER  14. 

July  1,  1861. — Claib  Jackson  and  Stump  Price. — Boasting. — Bucked  and 
Gagged. — Regular  Officers. — Trouble. — Want  to  Fight  Regulars. — "  Ous 
mid  your  Guns." — Punishment. — Deserting. — Comet. — July  2d. — Camp 
Jackson  material. — The  32-pounder. — Jim  Lane. — List  of  Troops.— 
Osterhaus. — Totten. — Clothing. — Order  of  Companies. — No  Favors. — 
Insufficient  Train. — Ready  to  Start. 

It  is  Now  July  1st,  nearly  two  months  after  the  Camp  Jack 
son  affair  at  St.  Louis;  all  Missouri  is  arming.  We  now  in 
camp  hear  much  about  the  battle  of  Boonville;  the  story  is 
fully  published.  The  secesh  did  not  make  much  of  a  fight,  but 
ran  like  a  lot  of  recruits.  Men  who  were  in  the  battle  are  now 
appearing  and  talking  about  the  fight  from  the  secesh  side.  They 
curse  Governor  Claib  Jackson,  and  Stump  Price.  "Stump" 
Price  is  the  son  of  General  Sterling  Price,  C.  S.  A.  Price  was  a 
veteran  of  the  Mexican  War  and  lived  near  Brunswick,  in 
Chariton  county,  Missouri,  and  was  wheedled  into  the  Con 
federate  service.  His  son  was  vain,  ambitious,  and  ordinary; 
he  never  amounted  to  anything.  Twenty  years  after  the  war 
I  was  at  Jefferson  City,  Missouri,  arid  heard  several  talk  about 
how  they  held  Lyon  level  at  Boonville,  and  how  they  were 
only  overcome  by  preponderance  of  numbers  and  artillery. 
The  South  cannot  boast  over  the  Civil  War.  They  started  it 
with  great  advantages  on  their  side.  They  ought  to  have  won, 
and  had  no  doubt  when  they  started  it  but  that  they  would. 
And  they  were  eager  to  start  because  they  were  ready. 

(150) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  151 

We  were  camped  beside  a  command  of  regulars.  They  were 
a  lot  of  toughs,  and  loved  to  tell  us  boys  long  yarns  about  their 
Indian  service.  This  afternoon  on  their  parade-ground  there 
was  a  man  "bucked  and  gagged/'  with  a  guard  walking 
back  and  forth  in  view  of  all.  We  had  never  seen  that  sort 
of  thing  before,  and  we  flocked  around.  An  officer  whose  face 
was  a  silent  yet  earnest  appeal  to  us  to  kick  him,  came  and 
ordered  us  off  the  ground.  We  greatly  despised  the  young 
regular  army  officers.  They  wore  snobs  of  the4  first  water. 
They  had  been  pointed  out  to  us  and  named.  This  one  was 
the  son  of  a  senator  and  that  one  of  a  governor,  and  so  on, 
and  so  on.  They  had  jaunty  and  effeminate  ways  about  them : 
for  instance,  one  led  around  by  a  string  a  dwarf  terrier;  one 
wore  a  monocle.  I  had  never  seen  a  monocle  before,  except  in 
comic  pictures.  The  older  and  superior  officers  seemed  to  be 
of  much  better  and  higher  stamp.  When  the  officer  ordered 
us  off  we  did  not  go,  and  we  threatened  to  unloose  the  man ; 
we  told  him  that  they  might  do  that  to  regulars  but  that  they 
could  not  do  that  sort  of  thing  to  free  American  citizens.  The 
officer  pulled  out  his  sword  and  stamped  around,  and  we  jeered 
at  him  and  hollowed,  "Unloose  the  man!"  The  officer  whirled 
and  went  to  his  regimental  line,  and  soon  appeared  with  about 
a  dozen  men  with  fixed  bayonets,  and  they  started  for  us. 
We  ran  to  our  company  ground  and  were  in  line  in  a  minute 
with  fixed  bayonets,  under  the  commands  of  corporals  Bill  and 
Churubusco.  We  did  not  want  anything  better  than  to  show 
somebody  an  exercise  in  fencing  with  the  bayonet.  We  started, 


152  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

and  ran  over  our  non-commissioned  officers,  but  the  major  and 
the  adjutant  got  in  front  of  us,  and  several  other  officers,  swear 
ing  and  yelling;  this  brought  us  slowly  to  a  halt.  We  wanted 
to  discuss  the  matter;  we  were  so  certain  that  we  could  clean 
out  the  regulars  that  we  wanted  a  show.  We  could  undoubtedly 
have  done  it  and  released  the  man.  While  in  this  shape,  in  be 
tween  us  and  the  regulars  marched  our  twin  company,  the 
Dutch  company,  in  charge  of  Captain  Matthies.  The  captain 
is  said  to  have  yelled  in  his  camp,  "  Ous  mid  your  guns ;  der  d — n 
ploody  Sou-oufs  (Zouaves)  machs  a  fight. "  After  that  it  was 
the  word  of  command,  and  the  saying — -"Ous  mid  your  guns." 

We  were  right,  the  punishment  of  the  man  was  inhuman;  it 
does  more  harm  than  good  to  punish  a  man  with  unnecessary 
and  conspicuous  prominence.  It  ruins  the  soldier.  To  buck 
and  gag  a  man  arid  put  him  out  in  that  condition  on  the  parade- 
ground  for  every  one  to  see  is  the  end  of  soldierly  qualities  in 
the  man.  After  that  he  becomes  ambitious  to  be  a  tough. 
Some  of  those  little  petty  lieutenants  seemed  to  think  that 
it  magnified  their  importance  to  treat  a  man  that  way.  After 
such  an  ordeal  a  man  is  justified  in  deserting,  and  the  service  is 
benefitted  by  his  going. 

A  cornet  appeared  on  the  night  of  July  1st.  It  had  not  been 
seen  the  night  before,  but  on  this  night  it  blazed  out  and  stretched 
its  tail  out  over  nearly  half  the  sky.  "Ah,"  said  Corporal 
Churubusco,  "now  we  are  going  to  have  war  for  sure."  We 
watched  it  with  interest;  I  do  not  know  what  comet  it  was, 
but  astronomers  can  tell.  "By  the  way  the  tail  of  that  comet 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  153 

points,"  said  Corporal  Churubusco,  "I  know  we  arc  going  to 
lick  them."  It  went  as  a  joke;  there  was  no  superstition  in  our 
company. 

On  July  2d  we  got  ready.  The  word  was  passed  around  that 
we  would  start  to-morrow.  The  caissons  of  the  artillery  were 
filled  with  ammunition  that  had  just  arrived.  Only  four  steam 
boats  were  at  the  Boonville  wharf.  A  German  soldier  told  me 
all  about  the  Camp  Jackson  affair  at  St.  Louis,  and  about  the 
captures  there.  Among  the  captures  were  three4  32-pounders, 
and  a  large  quantity  of  bombs  and  artillery  ammunition  in  ale- 
barrels.  A  battery  (6  pieces)  of  brass  field  guns.  A  lot  of  iron 
cannon.  Twelve  hundred  best  U.  S.  rifled  muskets,  with  a 
quantity  of  ammunition.  Also  a  lot  of  muskets  and  artillery 
taken  apart  and  packed  in  heavy  boxes  and  labeled  "marble." 
Also  swords,  tents  and  camp  equipage.  This  stuff  came  up 
from  the  South  to  start  the  rebellion  with  in  St.  Louis,  most  of 
it  from  the  Baton  Rouge  Arsenal.  The  plot  would  have;  been 
successful  if  it  had  not  been  for  Lyon,  Blair  and  Boernstein 
and  their  men.  The  South  got  the.  start  with  150,000  of  the 
best  muskets,  while  we  had  the  old-fashioned  guns  and  the 
leavings.  They  got  a  thousand  of  the  best  cannon  for  fort 
and  field,  and  vast  stores  of  ammunition  and  camp  equipage. 
We  got  the  old  and  shop- worn  stuff.  Why  the  South  did  not 
achieve  more  is  something  which  it  will  never  be  able  to  explain 
to  succeeding  generations.  The  regulars  and  some  of  the  other 
soldiers  brought  up  by  Lyon  from  St.  Louis  were1  armed  with 
these  captured  guns.  They  were  a  magnificent  arm,  and  were 


154  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


called  "The  Springfield  rifled  musket."  Some  were  stamped 
"U.  S.  1861."  Lyon  captured  over  a  thousand  prisoners  at 
Camp  Jackson. 

Lyon  had  lately  brought  up  to  Boonville  one  of  these  cap 
tured  32-pounders.  There  had  been  picked  out  eight  horses  to 
pull  it,  and  it  looked  as  if  it  might  be  a  thing  to  rely  on.  A 
squad  drilled  constantly  with  the  gun.  A  trial  shot  was  fired 
from  it  over  into  the  Missouri  river  bottoms,  and  great  was  the 
sound  thereof;  when  the  shell  burst  some  seconds  thereafter 
we  felt  greatly  comforted  by  the  thought  that  we  would  have 
such  a  valuable  ally.  A  fleet  of  steamboats  went  up  the  river, 
destined,  so  it  was  said,  for  Fort  Leavenworth.  We  heard  of 
Jim  Lane  in  Kansas,  and  that  he  was  organizing  assistance 
for  us. 

All  along  up  to  this  date  we  had  called  Lyon  a  " Colonel." 
From  and  after  we  left  Boonville  we  called  him  "General." 
The  troops  now  under  his  command  were  as  I  remember  it  and 
as  my  memorandums  show,  as  follows: 

First  Mo.  Infantry,  under  Col.  Frank  P.  Blair. 

Second  Mo.  Infantry,  under  Col.  Henry  Boernstein. 

First  Iowa  Infantry,  under  Col.  J.  F.  Bates. 

James  Totten's  Battery,  2d  U.  S.  Artillery. 

Co.  B,  Second  U.  S.  Infantry  (Lyon's  old  company). 

200  regular  army  unassigned  recruits  in  a  separate  command. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  Col.  Blair;  the  boys  got  to  liking 
him  very  much;  Bill  Heustis  gave  him  the  name  of  the  "Be- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  155 


jcsus  colonel."  I  can  remember  but  little  of  Col.  Boernstein, 
but  I  well  remember  the  major  of  his  regiment,  Major  Peter 
J.  Osterhaus.  He  had  a  voice  like  a  trumpet,  and  sometimes 
gave  his  orders  in  German  and  sometimes  in  English,  both 
of  which  languages  he  spoke  very  well.  He  afterwards  became 
one  of  our  best  major-generals.  Totten's  battery  was  called 
a  light  battery.  It  consisted  of  six  guns,  each  pulled  by  six 
horses.  The  guns  were  smooth-bore  brass  12-pounders,  muzzle- 
loading.  The  principal  sergeant  seemed  to  be  a  little  short, 
bellicose  Irishman.  Tot  ten  seemed  to  always  carry  a  canteen 
of  brandy.  His  commands  were  usually  given  in  a  lurid  and 
sonorous  manner.  The  first  two  that  I  heard  him  give  would 
perhaps  illustrate  his  manner  during  the  campaign.  "Forward 
that  caisson,  G — d  d — n  you,  sir," — " Swing  that  piece  into  line, 
G — d  d — n  you,  sir."  Any  soldier  in  our  regiment  would  walk 
a  half-mile  any  time  to  listen  to  him  five  minutes.  He  was 
wide  awake,  and  there  was  no  discount  on  his  bravery.  Some 
of  the,  Second  Missouri  were  down  the  road  guarding  towns 
and  bridges;  whether  they  rejoined  their  regiment  in  time  to 
start  with  us  south  I  do  not  know  for  certain,  but  think  that 
they  did  not.  Perhaps  only  a  small  part  of  the  Second  Mis 
souri  went  with  us. 

Regarding  the  First  Iowa,  I  may  here  say  that  they  had 
begun  to  look  tough.  In  the  first  place,  no  two  companies 
were  uniformed  alike.  Each  company  had  a  different  shape 
of  clothes  and  in  different  colors;  some  had  jackets  and  some, 


156  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


like  our  company,  had  long-tailed  coats,  but  of  different  styles 
and  colors.  We  had  enlisted  in  April  and  it  was  now  July;  the 
uniforms  were  in  bad  condition,  torn  and  ragged.  In  addition 
to  this,  many  uniforms  had  been  completely  worn  out  and  the 
boys  had  bought  what  they  could  get,  or  had  got  new  things 
from  home,  or  in  their  stead  clothes  from  home  already  partially 
worn.  It  was  a  motley  crew.  General  Lyon  could  not  supply 
us.  We  had  been  inspected  for  shoes,  and  about  a  dozen  of 
the  boys  who  had  the  worst  pairs  were  sent  with  orders  uptown 
and  got  shoes.  Boonville  was  quite  a  small  town,  and  I  suppose 
that  the  quartermaster  had  bought  or  impressed  all  the  shoes 
the  stores  had  for  sale.  That  afternoon  we  were  drawn  up  in 
line  and  told  to  get  ready  for  a  march.  Our  place  in  the  regi 
ment  was  fixed  by  the  order  of  companies  as  follows:  The 
companies  were  arranged  by  letter  as  follows :  A,  F,  D,  I,  C,  H, 
E,  K,  G,  B.  These  letters  were  taken  by  the  captains  in  the 
order  of  the  date  of  their  commissions.  Co.  "A"  was  the  high 
est  in  rank  and  had  its  place  on  the  right  of  the  regiment.  Co. 
"B"  was  next  and  was  on  the  left,  and  so  on.  Our  company 
supposed  that  it  was  to  be  the  color  company,  but  we  were  not 
made  Company  "C"  and  hence  did  not  get  the  honor. 

The  origin  of  the  various  companies  of  the  First  Iowa  In 
fantry  was  the  following  cities : 

Co.  "A"  Muscatine.  Co."F"  Mount  Pleasant 

"B"  Iowa  City.  "G"  Davenport, 

aC'  Muscatine.  "R"  Dubuque. 

11  D"  Burlington.  "I"  Dubuque. 

"E"  Burlington.  "K"  Cedar  Rapids. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  157 


Sonic  of  the  companies  had  separate  names,  as  follows : 

Company  "D,"  Burlington  Rifles. 

Company  "P]/;  Burlington  Zouaves. 

Company  "F,"  Mount  Pleasant  Grays. 

Company  "H,"  Wilson  Guards. 

Company  "I,"  Governor's  Grays. 

The  Iowa  regiment  boys  were  all  about  alike :  they  were 
ragged  and  saucy  and  their  three  months  were  up  in  July,  and 
they  did  not  want  to  go  home  without  a  fight.  There  became 
the  greatest  fraternity  among  them.  We  did  not  associate 
much  with  the  other  soldiers  outside  of  our  regiment.  The 
latter  had  come  from  St.  Louis,  the  source  of  supply,  and  were 
much  better  dressed  than  we  were,  and  better  armed  and  ac- 
coutered  than  we.  Where  we  beat  them  was  on  drill  and  fiber. 
Nevertheless,  General  Lyon  had  his  misgivings  and  did  not 
grant  us  any  favors,  and  we  did  not  take  very  kindly  to  him. 
We  felt  that  he  was  neglecting  us  and  was  playing  favorites. 
In  the  evening  it  was  circulated  that  Lyon  was  discouraged 
about  his  transportation  and  could  not  get  half  enough.  It 
was  said  that  he  could  not  wait  any  longer,  and  that  he  must 
start  and  depend  largely  upon  the  country.  He  had  no  clothing 
for  his  men,  only  a  small  supply  of  bacon,  and  not  half  enough 
breadstuff's.  It  took  seven  wagon-loads  a  day  to  feed  the  men. 
Only  one  two-horse  wagon  was  allowed  to  each  company. 
This  one  wagon  must  haul  the  company  property,  consisting  of 
tents,  cooking  utensils,  the  company  desk,  three  days'  rations, 
the  sick,  and  forage  for  the  team.  There  were  no  hospital  ar 
rangements  worthy  of  the  name.  It  was  stated  that  Lyon  had 


158  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

ordered  a  large  supply  of  rations  and  clothing  sent  to  him  by 
the  way  of  Holla  to  meet  us  at  Springfield,  and  that  if  we  ever 
got  there  we  would  be  well  supplied.  Our  destination  was  said 
to  be  Springfield,  Missouri. 

During  the  night  it  rained  and  blew  a  gale.  Everything  was 
soaked. 

The  rumor  was  that  we  would  pursue  arid  try  to  capture 
General  Sterling  Price  before  he  could  be  reinforced  from  the 
South. 


CHAPTER  15. 

July  3d.— The  Start.— The  Ovation.— The  Boys.— The  Howitzer.— The 
Regulars. — "The  Happy  Land  of  Canaan." — Weight  of  Baggage. — The 

'  March. — Some  Nourishment. — July  4th. — Early  March. — Fatigue  Duty. 
—The  Missouri  Mule. — Number  of  Slaves. — The  Camp.— Mulberries. — 
Supper. — Sturgis. — July  5th. — Rain. — Bad  Roads. — Tents  Dumped. — 
Rations  Shortened. — Lize. 

On  July  3rd  we  started.  We  were  filled  with  rumors. 
There  were  always  500  cavalry  right  over  the  hill,  or  clown  in 
the  timber,  or  somewhere.  Finally  the  number  of  troops  in 
front  of  us  grew  until  rumor  fixed  them  at  15,000  drawn  up  and 
in  camp  within  100  miles  or  nearer,  awaiting  our  advance.  This 
news  was  nearly  correct,  but  Bill  Heustis  changed  it  around  so 
that  it  became  100  troops  within  15,000  miles  of  us,  and  there  it 
stayed  for  quite  a  while.  We  marched  out  of  Boonville  in  the 
mud,  with  drums  beating  and  flags  floating.  Old  men  and  good- 
looking  girls  in  long  cavalcades  escorted  us  far  out  of  town  on 
horseback,  riding  on  the  side  of  the  road.  In  those  days,  in 
Missouri,  every  woman  owned  a  horse,  and  knew  how  to  ride  it. 
They  gave  us  a  great  ovation.  And  the  little  boys  ran  along 
beside  us  in  gangs;  on  their  caps  were  the  letters  UC.  S."  or 
UU.  S."  They  were  playing  war,  and  had  sticks  and  would  hit 
one  another  promiscuously.  Some  represented  the  Confederates 
and  some  the  United  States.  The  boys  followed  us  out  more 
than  a  mile.  The  letters  indicated  the  sentiments  of  their 

(159) 


160  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


mothers;  women  are  always  patriotic.  I  will  not  say  that  if 
there  were  no  women  there  would  be  no  war,  but  if  there  is  a 
war  they  help  fight  it. 

When  we  got  out  of  town  wre  struck  west.  The  roads  were 
muddy;  we  were  put  right  behind  the  regulars.  They  were 
nicely  dressed  and  finely  armed  and  equipped,  and  looked  like 
soldiers,  and  they  stepped  off  with  vigor.  After  we  got  out  of 
town  we  came  to  a  slight  ravine  where  there  was  a  log  bridge, 
and  in  there  was  the  32-lb.  howitzer.  It  had  broken  down  the 
bridge.  A  long  rope  was  handed  out  and  we  all  pulled,  that 
could  get  hold,  but  we  could  not  move  the  howitzer.  There  it 
stuck  and  stayed;  we  never  saw  it  afterwards.  We  marched 
five  miles  west,  then  struck  southwest  over  as  beautiful  a  prairie 
upland  as  one  would  wish  to  see.  After  marching  ten  miles  we 
stopped  and  took  lunch,  and  then  started  on  again  southwest. 
The  country  became  more  muddy  and  the  walking  became  harder 
and  more  tiresome.  We  supposed  that  it  was  our  duty  to  keep 
up  writh  the  regulars,  and  so  we  trod  on  their  coat-tails  all  day, 
and  so  when  one  of  them  stopped  to  tie  his  shoe  he  fell  back  into 
our  ranks  at  least  200  feet.  And  we  sung  uThe  Happy  Land  of 
Canaan"  every  hour  and  sang  it  fifteen  minutes  on  a  stretch. 
We  wanted  to  show  the  regulars  that  we  could  stay  with  them. 
They  did  not  like  our  style  very  well,  but  we  liked  theirs  and 
wanted  to  associate  with  them ;  we  kept  ready  to  run  over  them 
all  day  long.  The  village  of  Pilot  Grove  was  on  the  route.  The 
stuff  we  carried  was  as  follows :  Gun,  9  pounds,  plus ;  cartridge- 
box,  cap-pouch,  belt,  bayonet  and  scabbard,  6  pounds ;  one  day's 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  161 


rations  and  haversack,  3 J  pounds ;  blanket,  3  pounds ;  canteen, 
filled,  3J  pounds.  Total  25  pounds,  plus.  When  evening  came 
we  had  marched  15  miles  through  the  mud,  carrying  our  25 
pounds,  and  drew  up  on  a  side-hill,  to  camp;  but  our  wagons 
were  far  away  in  the  distance  behind  us.  We  sat  down  on  the 
grass  to  wait;  there  was  neither  wood  nor  water.  I  was  tired, 
too  tired  to  eat.  I  munched  hard-tack  and  thought  of  home  and 
wished  that  the  war  would  end  when  Secretary  of  State  Seward 
said  it  would.  He  put  it  at  ninety  days,  and  the  time  was  about 
up.  It  began  to  rain.  I  wrapped  myself  up  in  my  blanket  and 
went  to  sleep.  About  midnight  I  was  awakened  by  old  Mace. 
I  looked  around;  the  boys  were  sleeping  every- which-way  on 
the  side-hill;  they  were  in  no  lines  or  ranks  or  order;  they  had 
just  gone  to  sleep  where  they  lit.  There  were  no  camp-fires. 
I  could  hear  the  mules  giving  their  midnight  bray  down  on  the 
creek  about  a  mile  off.  A  sentinel  was  walking  about  a  hun 
dred  yards  from  me,  back  and  fro.  "Massa  Link,"  said  old 
Mace,  "I  dun  brought  you  some  nourishment."  He  had  a  tin 
cup  and  some  liquid  in  it  which  I  thought  was  coffee  or  beef 
soup.  I  took  it  and  tossed  it  down  at  a  gulp.  It  choked,  burned 
and  gagged  me.  It  was  an  eighth  of  a  quart  of  whisky.  I  could 
not  get  my  breath ;  I  rolled  over  in  the  grass ;  I  thought  I  would 
turn  wrong  side  out.  My  stomach  telegraphed  back  that  it  was 
very  much  surprised.  I  gasped  and  flounced  around  in  the  grass 
and  wet.  I  finally  got  my  breath  back  by  installments.  Some 
of  the  "  nourishment "  had  got  into  my  lungs  and  some  into  my 
eyes,  ears  and  nose.  The  whisky  was  the  old-fashioned  high- 


162  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

proof  stuff  that  in  those  days  went  by  the  name  of  "40-rod." 
I  never  had  taken  such  a  drink  as  that  in  my  life.  Old  Mace 
looked  on  with  perfect  astonishment  and  witnessed  my  elaborate 
contortions;  he  had  always  lived  down  South,  and  had  never 
seen  a  man  before  make  a  wry  face  when  he  took  a  drink.  He 
excused  himself  and  disappeared  in  the  darkness.  The  nourish 
ment  began  to  nourish;  and  I  laughed  at  the  whole  matter  with 
a  wan  and  lonesome  snicker,  and  found  that  I  could  eat  a  cracker, 
and  I  sat  up  and  ate  and  ate  until  I  had  eaten  up  all  I  had.  Then 
I  curled  down  between  the  loose  limestone  float-rock  on  the  side- 
hill  as  happy  a  man  as  there  was  in  Lyon's  army.  I  took  off 
my  shoes  and  socks,  looked  up  at  the  sky,  said  "Good-by,  old 
mundane,"  and  was  sound  asleep  in  a  minute. 

On  July  4th  we  were  awakened  at  3:30  A.  M.  Lyon  was 
an  early  riser.  The  moment  we  got  started  on  the  campaign 
he  got  us  up  as  early  as  half-past  three,  and  sometimes  earlier. 
On  this  morning,  the  glorious  Fourth  of  July,  our  company  was 
detailed  as  train-guard  and  on  " fatigue  duty"  as  it  was  called, 
with  the  regimental  \vagons.  There  were  twelve  wagons,  one 
for  each  company  and  two  for  regimental  headquarters  and 
staff.  Our  duties  were  to  assist  the  driver  when  he  ran  out  of 
profanity,  also  to  pull  back  on  the  wagons  when  they  went  down 
hill,  to  push  on  them  when  they  went  uphill,  and  to  help  across 
streams  and  mud-holes.  There  is  no  animal  on  earth  like  the 
Missouri  mule.  He  has  no  superior,  no  equal.  His  strength  is 
superfluous  and  inexhaustible.  He  will  pull  until  he  drops.  He 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  163 

enjoys  profanity,  likes  a  joke,  and  is  a  good  judge  of  men.  He 
helped  us  save  the  Union. 

We  were  permitted  to  get  our  principal  burdens  into  the  wag 
ons  while  we  were  with  them  that  day.  We  passed  a  hard  and 
active  day  getting  the  wagons  over  the  deep  and  muddy  swales 
on  the  line  of  march.  We  did  not  always  follow  the  road,  at 
least  not  any  main  traveled  road ;  often  we  were  out  on  the 
prairie  without  a  road.  There  were  few  fences  along  the  route. 
We  passed  through  Pleasant  Green. 

Yesterday  and  to-day  we  went  through  a  most  beautiful  coun 
try.  On  this  day  we  marched  19  miles  to  the  southwest;  at 
noon  we  crossed  a  prong  of  the  La  Mine  (pronounced  by  the 
people  Lah  Meen).  We  struck  a  well-settled  country,  but  all 
secesh;  and  all  houses  vacant,  except  as  held  by  some  two  or 
three  old  negro  women.  Every  valuable1  negro  had  been  run 
off  to  keep  him  from  being  taken  and  freed.  There  were  at  this 
time  in  Missouri  115,000  slaves,  by  actual  count,  and  they  were 
very  useful  in  opening  up  the  new  country.  Most  of  them  were 
north  of  the  Missouri  river,  which  made  that  portion  of  the  State 
so  strongly  anti-Union.  South  Missouri  had  very  few  slaves. 

As  we  made  an  early  start,  and  went  only  19  miles,  we  got  into 
camp  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  Our  regiment  all 
camped  together  near  a  beautiful  little  running  stream.  The 
prairie-grass  was  deep  and  dense;  we  got  together  and  did  not 
take  our  tents  out  of  the  wagons;  we  wanted  to  sleep  out  of 
doors,  for  the  afternoon  was  dry  and  pleasant.  Mulberry  trees 
were  very  plenty  on  the  stream;  Jim  Smith  and  I  got  all  the 


164  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

mulberries  we  wanted.  Then,  seeing  a  house  off  about  a  mile, 
we  concluded  we  would  go  to  it  and  buy  a  bowl  of  bread  and 
milk.  We  got  our  guns  and  walked  over  to  the  house.  It  was 
a  fine  large  plantation  house.  On  the  porch  was  a  fat  old  negress 
weighing  about  two  hundred  and  fifty;  she  was  apparently 
75  years  of  age.  I  said,  "Grandmammy,  I  want  a  bowl  of  bread 
and  milk."  She  said,  "We  doan  got  no  bread  nor  no  milk  in 
the  house.'7  I  said,  "  Grandmammy,  we  want  something  to  eat 
and  will  pay  for  it."  We  believed  that  although  Uncle  Sam's 
laws  did  not  go  into  Secessia  his  currency  would.  She  then  went 
and  got  some  buttermilk  and  sweetened  it  with  molasses  and 
got  a  lot  of  cold  corn-bread.  We  took  supper.  She  charged  us 
fifteen  cents  each,  which  we  paid.  She  said  that  all  of  the  folks 
were  off  celebrating  the  fourth  of  July,  and  had  taken  off  about 
everything  that  was  eatable,  and  that  she  was  the  only  person 
around  the  place,  and  that  the  negroes  were  all  gone,  too.  She 
said  that  the  boss  had  three  sons.  She  would  not  admit  that 
any  of  them  were  in  the  rebel  army.  We  believed  they  were  at 
that  time  in  the  brush. 

Our  regiment  had  been  walking  on  the  coat-tails  of  the  reg 
ulars  all  day.  The  rear  guard  picks  up  all  broken  down,  sick 
or  played-out  soldiers;  on  the  march  of  to-day  the  rear  guard 
picked  up  but  six  of  our  regiment,  but  picked  up  over  200  of  the 
others.  Nineteen  miles  was  a  pretty  good  march  with  the  weight 
that  had  to  be  carried,  and  as  the  weather  was  hot  some  of  the 
boys  could  not  keep  up.  We  found  this  night  that  we  were  try 
ing  to  make  a  junction  with  General  Sturgis.  We  had  brought 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  165 


3000  men  out  of  Boonville,  and  Sturgis  was  reported  to  have  an 
equal  number.  He  had  left  Kansas  City  on  the  24th  of  June  to 
find  us.  Eight  thousand  rebels  were  reported  to  be  waiting  for 
us.  Jim  Lane  of  Kansas  was  commissioned  Brigadier-General 
-on  June  20th,  and  was  reported  to  bo  raising  troops  to  support 
us;  but  he  never  arrived. 

We  slept  outdoors  on  the  night  of  July  4th  and  looked  up 
at  the  sky.  We  asked  many  questions  of  the  silont  stars  and 
went  to  sleep. 

On  the  morning  of  July  5th  we  got  up  as  usual ,  at  3 : 30.  The 
beautiful  little  stream  which  wo  camped  on  was  one  of  the  head 
waters  of  the  river  La  Mine,  a  few  miles  west  of  where  Sedalia 
was  afterwards  built.  Soon  after  roll-call  in  the  morning  it 
began  to  rain.  We  got  our  breakfast  and  started.  Eight  men 
and  a  corporal  from  each  company  wore  detailed  to  look  after 
the  company  wagons  and  get  them  through  the  mud.  I  was 
drawn  on  this  detail,  and  we  started  in.  We  wont  all  day  in  the 
rain ;  we  doubled  teams  all  along  the  line  and  pulled  the  wagons 
out  of  the  dee})  rich  mud.  Wo  managed  by  dint  of  an  all-day's 
pull  to  get  the  train  12  miles.  Wo  kept  our  ammunition  dry 
by  putting  our  cartridge-boxes  in  the  wagons  under  the  cover 
while  we  worked.  In  one  place4  our  wagon  got  down  in  the  mud 
to  the  axle  and  the  mules  to  their  bellies,  and  a  wagon-boss  from 
somewhere  ordered  us  to  lighten  the  wagon ;  we  tumbled  out  all 
of  our  damp,  heavy,  mouldy  tents  except  the  six  best  ones. 
Among  the  ones  reserved  was  the  tent  of  "Chicken  Mess,  No.l." 
We  dumped  the  balance  of  the  tents,  and  never  saw  thorn  after- 


160  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


wards.  After  that  day  I  never  slept  in  a  tent  during  the  whole 
campaign.  Perhaps  some  of  the  rear  wagons,  unloaded  of  ra 
tions,  may  have  picked  them  up.  In  the  ordinary  course  of 
business  we  were  emptying  seven  wagons  a  day  by  eating  up 
the  loads.  The  mud  and  sand  got  into  our  shoes  so  that  it  pol 
ished  the  insides,  but  it  won4  our  socks  all  out.  That  night  I 
greased  the  inside  of  my  shoes  and  put  on  my  last  pair  of  socks 
and  went  to  bed,  but  I  had  a  whole  lot  of  corns  that  had  become 
very  troublesome.  We  ran  out  of  forage  and  we  fed  our  mules 
what  they  could  get.  The4  prairie-grass  was  abundant  and  the 
mules  were  grazed,  and  we  occasionally  ran  onto  a  field  of  oats 
and  fed  it  right  up.  But  corn  was  scarce,  and  the  animals  were 
not  getting  fed  well  enough  to  get  the  full  value  of  their  services. 
Often  on  the  route  we  boys  with  a  strong  rope  hitched  onto  the 
tongue  of  a  wagon,  pulled  nearly  a  hundred  strong,  and  helped 
both  wagon  and  mules  out  of  the  mud.  The  command  floun 
dered  through  the  mud  all  day.  Our  coffee  rations  held  out  and 
the  hard-tack  held  out,  but  all  the  others  went.  The  beans  dis 
appeared,  and  the  rice  was  saved  for  the  sick,  the  sugar  vanished, 
and  we  went  it  on  coffee,  crackers,  and  beef.  But  that  was 
enough,  and  we  were  satisfied  all  around,  and  we  had  plenty  of 
tobacco.  These  were  hard  but  golden  days,  as  we  afterwards 
discovered.  Our  Keokuk  company  dogess,  "Lize,"  had  grown 
fat  and  saucy,  and  although  she  had  lost  none  of  her  ill  looks  she 
had  lost  her  timidity  and  become  the  pet  of  the  company. 
Twelve  miles  was  a  good  day's  march  under  the  circumstances, 
and  we  lay  down  at  night  very  tired ;  and  although  the  sky  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFAXTRY.  167 


packed  with  clouds  and  full  of  thunder  and  lightning,  it  rained 
very  little  during  the  night.  Everything  was  wet,  but  the  air 
was  warm  and  we  slept  all  right.  There  was  no  difficulty  in 
getting  asleep  and  staying  so.  There  was  no  care  and  no  in 
somnia.  What  we  wanted  to  do  was  to  catch  Price  and  end  the 
war.  During  the  night  several  shots  were  fired  in  the  darkness 
on  our  pickets. 

We  had  boon  following  the  main  wagon-road  which  ran  from 
Boonvillo,  the  county  scat  of  Cooper  county,  to  Georgetown, 
which  was  then  the  county  seat  of  Pettis  county.  From  George 
town,  this  road,  which  was  then  the  main  thoroughfare  of  the 
country,  ran  southwest  through  the  villages  of  Greenridge  and 
Belmont  to  Clinton,  the  county  seat  of  Henry  county.  The 
present  town  of  Windsor,  on  the  M.  K.  &  T.  R.  R.,  stands  as  near 
as  I  can  tell  where  Belmont  then  stood. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  the  accordion  which  had  decorated 
the  stalwart  form  of  Stypes  was  stricken  with  a  fatal  malady. 
Ever  since  we  had  left  Boonville  the  accordion  had  boon  develop 
ing  pulmonary  difficulties.  Then  something  became  the  matter 
with  its  aorta.  The  keys,  so  to  speak,  would  no  longer  unlock 
the  entrances  to  its  imprisoned  music.  Asthma  set  in.  The 
damp  weather  seemed  only  to  augment  its  ailments.  It  finally 
perished  from  loss  of  glue. 


CHAPTER  16. 

July  6th.— Out-march  Regulars. — 23-mile  March. — Lyon  Disliked.— No 
Cavalry. — Beef  Supply  Short. — July  7th. — Old  Mace. — Distilleries. — 
White  Mule. — Vegetables. — Rebel  Depot. — Sun  Hot. — Regulars  shed 
Knapsacks. — Reached  Grand  River. — Rebel  Supply  Depot. — Garden. — 
Sturgis's  Command. — Pontoon  Train. — Ferry  Rope. — Corduroying  Road. 
—The  Crossing. — The  Fire  Guard. — Last  of  the  Wamus. 

On  the  morning  of  July  6th  the  bugles  roused  us  at  3:30. 
The  sky  cleared  off;  we  got  a  hasty  breakfast,  and  started  be 
fore  sunrise.  Our  road  went  upon  a  high  upland.  The  soil 
was  firmer.  The  sun  rose  red-hot.  We  were  this  day  put  in 
the  advance,  with  the  regulars  just  behind  us,  and  we  passed 
around  the  word  to  give  the  brigade  a  run  for  its  money.  In  an 
hour  there  was  a  gap  of  half  a  mile  behind  us.  In  two  hours 
there  was  a  gap  of  a  mile.  Every  hour  we  started  up  "The  Happy 
Land  of  Canaan."  The  colonel  stopped  us  every  thirty  minutes 
and  gave  us  a  breathing-spell,  and  as  our  successors  heaved  in 
view  we  struck  right  out  again  at  a  gait  that  could  not  be  fol 
lowed.  When  we  started  the  colonel  would  shout  "Forward, 
Iowa!"  The  colonel  got  to  attaching  the  name  of  the  State 
to  the  command,  and  to  us  it  sounded  delightful.  He  would 
sing  out  "Attention,  Iowa!"  and  "Halt,  Iowa!"  On  this  day's 
march  he  worked  this  plan  all  day.  Every  once  in  a  while 
Lyon  would  send  a  courier  to  tell  us  to  halt  until  the  brigade 
could  close  up.  We  led  the  brigade  23  miles  that  day.  It 

(168) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  169 


was  then  on  that  day  that  Lyon  gave  us  the  name  of  the  Iowa 
greyhounds,  and  said,  " There  goes  that  d — d  'Happy  Land  of 
Canaan'  again.7' 

There  are  those  who  say  that  General  Lyon  did  not  use  pro 
fane  language1.  As  I  had  a  brief  controversy  with  him  once 
along  the  road  I  know  that  he  sometimes  did.  We,  the  people, 
always  put  our  dead  heroes  on  a  pedestal  and  give  them  virtues 
which  they  did  not  have.  Our  regiment  formed  a  great  dis 
like  to  Lyon  upon  this  day.  We  never  liked  him  much  any 
way,  and  just  now  he  seemed  cross  and  crabbed  and  to  be  find 
ing  fault  with  something, — said  he  would  not  put  us  in  the  front 
any  more.  We  accomplished  one  purpose — we  wore  out  the 
regulars  and  gave  them  to  understand  that  we  were  the  better 
men. 

Our  route  this  day  was  south  of  west.  We  crossed  two  streams 
that  were  running  bank-full;  we  took  our  shoes  off  and  waded 
them.  A  more  beautiful  prairie  country  was  never  marched 
over.  Several  old  men  and  ladies  in  carriages  marched  with 
us.  They  were  said  to  be  Union  people  who  were  getting  out 
of  the  country  with  us.  We  had  at  this  time  no  cavalry,  but 
we  had  about  a  dozen  men  on  horses  who  wore  uniforms  and  a 
lot  of  civilians  on  horseback  who  were  armed  and  seemed  to  be 
scouting  around.  They  were  a  force  of  civilians,  probably, 
that  had  been  hired  as  scouts  in  lieu  of  cavalry.  They  were 
running  around  and  bringing  in  somebody  all  the  time. 

We  have  been  seeing  many  mounted  men  in  the  distance, 
and  are  told  by  the  negroes  that  all  the  able-bodied  population 


170  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


has  gone  into  the  rebel  army,  and  that  Claib  Jackson  (Governor) 
has  eight  thousand  of  them  just  across  the  river  south  of  us. 
We  have  cleaned  out  the  country  of  beef  cattle  and  have  not 
got  so  very  big  a  herd  yet.  One  of  our  men  who  was  detailed 
yesterday  with  the  herd  and  who  helped  to  drive  them  all  day 
says  that  Lyon  has  not  a  week's  supply  of  beef,  and  yet  every 
animal  is  gathered  in  that  can  be  seen  and  reached.  On  July 
5th  General  Sigel  had  his  celebrated  fight  near  Carthage,  Mis 
souri,  but  we  did  not  hear  of  it  until  the  9th.  General  Sweeney, 
the  brave  Irishman,  is  in  command  down  at  Springfield.  Cou 
riers  came  in  after  dark  and  said  that  we  would  form  a  junction 
with  General  Sturgis  within  twenty-four  hours. 

We  went  to  bed  feeling  delightfully  self-satisfied  with  our 
selves.  We  had  shown  the  whole  brigade  that  we  could  out 
march  them.  "We  were  without  doubt  the  champions;  nothing 
and  nobody  could  walk  away  from  us.  What  little  things  it 
takes  to  make  men  happy!  We  did  not  think  of  our  shabby 
clothing  and  our  wretched  armament;  we  were  happy  because 
we  could  excel  in  something. 

The  night  was  clear  and  balmy,  and  we  looked  up  into  the 
vast  distances  of  the  sky,  counted  the  stars  and  mesmerized 
ourselves  to  sleep. 

July  7th,  1861,  was  an  earnest  day,  very  hot  and  very  stren 
uous.  We  were  awakened  at  3:30  in  the  morning.  Old  Mace 
had  had  a  camp-kettle  of  beef  boiling  all  night.  In  the  morn 
ing  we  took  a  heavy  breakfast,  put  into  our  haversacks  a 
chunk  of  the  beef  with  hard-tack,  drank  a  quart  of  hot  coffee, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  171 


and  were  ready  for  a  big  day's  tramp.  The  life  which  Old  Mace 
led  was  an  ideal  one  for  him.  He  had  no  gun  to  carry;  no 
load;  he  was  without  responsibility.  He  walked  with  the 
wagons  and  dozed  and  took  naps.  He  did  not  have  to  stand 
guard  nor  march  with  anybody.  He  was  at  home  on  any  part 
of  the  line,  and  had  only  to  keep  ahead  of  the  rear  guard.  He 
was  used  to  heat  and  hard  labor,  and  so  he  came  in  at  the  end 
of  the  day's  march  as  fresh  as  a  daisy.  He  got  about  four 
hours  of  sleep  at  night  and  six  more  during  the  day.  He  always 
went  with  the  wagons.  All  that  he 'feared  was  a  capture.  He 
used  to  say:  "They  won't  kill  me,  they'll  captivate  me.  I'se 
wuf  two  thousand  dollars.  I'se  done  sold  for  that  ino'n  wonce." 
Darkies  in  those  days  took  rank  among  themselves  according 
to  the  value  of  actual  sales.  Mace's  statement  was  perhaps 
the  truth,  for  he  was  a  large,  substantial,  capable  African, 
with  a  good  head  on,  and  before  the  war  negroes  had  been  high. 
He  was  about  forty  years  of  age,  and  told  some  very  strange 
and  startling  stories  of  the  Mexican  War,  in  which  he  was  an 
officer's  servant.  At  the  time  of  which  I  speak  he  was  prob 
ably  a  "runaway,"  as  fugitive  slaves  were  then  called.  His 
services  to  our  mess  were  invaluable. 

We  were  going  through  a  country  that  was  new.  A  large 
portion  of  the  country  was  public  domain.  Stills  for  making 
whisky  were  frequent.  They  were  very  simple.  The  appara 
tus,  building  and  all,  would  not  cost  $500;  the  art  could  be 
learned  in  ten  days.  The  whisky  was  clear  as  water,  and  the 
name  given  to  it  was  "white-mule."  The  name  probably  came 


172  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

from  the  "kick"  which  the  liquor  gave.  The  name  did  not  origi 
nate  with  the  army,  but  was  indigenous  to  the  frontier,  and 
spread  rapidly.  This  native  whisky  was  of  high  proof  and 
startlingly  effective.  I  think  that  the  whisky  Old  Mace  gave 
me  on  the  night  of  July  3rd  was  "white-mule"  which  some 
negro  had  brought  in.  Mace  liked  it  very  well,  but  he  was 
kind  enough  to  divide. 

It  was  reported  this  afternoon  that  our  brigade  lost  three 
men  the  afternoon  and  evening  before;  they  were  out  foraging 
for  onions  and  vegetables  and  did  not  come  back.  They  were 
either  killed  or  taken  prisoners.  There  were  actually  seen 
in  the  offing,  horsemen  who  were  acting  like  scouts,  and  scru 
tinizing  our  column.  But  we  had  no  cavalry  to  stop  it  with. 
We  were  suffering  some  for  want  of  vegetables ;  there  were  few 
in  the  country — only  little  gardens.  Old  negresses  would  oc 
casionally  come  into  camp  with  baskets  of  onions,  which  we 
bought  and  paid  for.  No  mess  could  as  a  rule  get  more  than 
enough  to  flavor  a  soup.  The  boys  would  fight  one  another 
if  the  right  of  sale  was  not  divided  up. 

We  were  told  that  Governor  Claib  Jackson  had  a  big  depot 
of  army  supplies  between  us1  and  "Grand  river."  Grand  river 
was  in  those  days  the  north  prong  of  the  Osage  river,  running 
past  Clinton  and  falling  into  the  Osage  near  Warsaw;  it  seems 
to  appear  now  on  the  maps  as  an  Osage  river.  It  was  not  so 
large,  by  considerable,  as  the  Osage  river  proper.  The  Osage 
river  was  considered  one  of  the  navigable  rivers  up  to  Osceola, 
at  high  water,  and  navigable  at  all  times  to  Warsaw.  The  sup- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  173 


plies  of  the  country  were  brought  by  boat  to  Warsaw  and  from 
there  transshipped  by  wagon  to  southwest  Missouri  and  south 
east  Kansas.  The  supplies  for  Fort  Scott,  on  the  eastern  edge 
of  Kansas  Territory,  were  most  frequently  shipped  to  Osceola 
by  boat  and  thence  by  wagon  75  miles  to  the  Fort. 

The  sun  was  very  hot  on  July  7th,  and  we  marched  next  to 
the  regulars.  We  kept  right  close4  up  to  them,  and  our  front 
ranks  would  punch  right  up  into  them  when  they  stopped.  It 
was  Lyon's  old  company,  and  he  resented  the  manner  in  which 
we  walked  up  onto  them.  During  a  halt  in  the  forenoon  he 
told  us  to  keep  back.  It  pleased  us  to  know  that  we  were  not 
of  those  who  needed  any  prodding.  We  started  again;  the 
road  was  over  a  high  prairie,  and  we  were  all  going  at  a  brisk 
gait,  with  the  First  Iowa  close  up  to  the  regulars,  when  a  halt 
was  ordered.  The  halt  was  made  so  as  to  give  the  regulars 
an  opportunity  to  shed  their  impedimenta;  a  two-horse  wagon 
drove  up;  the  regulars  piled  upon  the  ground  their  knapsacks 
and  haversacks  in  little  pyramids,  and  were  now  in  light  march 
ing  order,  carrying  only  canteens  and  fighting  tools.  We 
cheered  and  cheered,  and  sang  "The  Happy  Land  of  Canaan." 
Our  companies  one  by  one  as  they  came  up  and  saw  the  stuff 
of  the  regulars  being  loaded  up,  cheered,  and  kept  it  up  until 
the  last  man  of  the  regiment  had  passed.  There  was  a  gap  be 
hind  us  to  the  next  regiment  of  at  least  a  half-mile.  The  regu 
lars  wc^re  very  much  offended.  We  had  not  liked  each  other 
since  the  buck-and-gag  incident  at  Boonville.  The  regulars 
started  off  at  a  good  gait  in  their  light  marching  rig.  The  word 


174  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

was  passed  down  the  line  to  keep  up,  and  to  march  on  their 
coat-tails  all  day.  We  were  prettily  heavily  loaded,  but  we 
kept  right  up.  Once  in  a  while  comrades  had  to  carry  a  man's 
gun  for  a  few  minutes  to  let  him  get  his  breath,  but  we  kept 
up  with  them  just  the  same,  and  there  kept  continually  going, 
"That  d — d  Happy  Land  of  Canaan."  We  marched  twenty 
miles  that  forenoon  and  got  to  the  ferry  of  Grand  river  at  one 
o'clock,  which  shows  that  we  did  a  good  job  of  fast  marching. 
Nobody  disputed  our  prestige  after  that.  We  enjoyed  and 
held  on  to  our  title  of  the  "Iowa  greyhounds."  But  to  go 
back.  During  the  day  we  were  passing  near  a  hamlet  in  which 
there  was  a  large,  long,  newish  building  made  out  of  native 
lumber  from  a  neighboring  sawmill.  Part  of  the  brigade  had 
passed.  A  temporary  halt  was  ordered.  A  man  in  "  butter 
nut,"  on  horseback,  rode  by,  and  pointing  to  the  building  said, 
"That  is  a  rebel  depot  of  supplies."  We  all  went  for  it,  officers 
and  men.  We  smashed  in  the  doors  and  found  the  house  filled 
with  hats,  shoes,  and  citizens'  ready-made  clothing.  I  got  all 
I  wanted,  which  was  a  good  pair  of  shoes,  and  having  already 
a  good  pair,  I  considered  myself  fixed  for  the  campaign.  Some 
of  Lyon's  staff  finally  drove  us  out,  and  the  balance  of  the  con 
tents  within  was  turned  over  to  the  quartermaster.  The  First 
Iowa  were  the  only  ones  that  got  anything,  and  there  was  no 
effort  made  to  make  us  give  it  up,  for  we  had  only  taken  what 
we  had  good  need  of.  Some  one  called  us  thieves;  it  was  the 
first  loot  of  the  campaign.  We  did  not  care.  Bill  Heustis 
wrote  on  a  piece  of  pasteboard  and  stuck  it  up  at  regimental 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  175 


headquarters:  "First  Iowa — Thieves  and  Greyhounds."  As 
we  neared  the  river,  houses  became  more  frequent.  At  one  place 
they  had  a  fine  garden  in  front  of  the  house,  thriving  principally 
in  onions.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  5-foot  fence  made  of  split 
pickets,  and  an  officer  was  on  guard  to  prevent  trespass.  Just 
as  we  went  by  a  lady  came  to  the  door,  and  probably  taking 
pity  at  our  ragged  appearance,  said,  "If  you  want  some  of  the 
vegetables  you  can  take  them."  I  did  not  hunt  for  the  gate; 
it  was  25  feet  off;  I  dropped  my  gun  to  a  chum;  I  lit  over 
in  the  onion-bed  and  began  harvesting  them  before  I  struck 
the  ground.  I  got  enough  for  my  mess.  In  five  minutes  there 
was  not  a  green  thing  in  the  garden.  Just  before  we  got  down 
into  the  river-bottom  we  passed  General  Sturgis  and  his  troops, 
who  had  just  got  in.  He  was  on  his  horse  near  the  road  with 
his  officers,  and  we  passed  in  review  before  him  and  he  studied 
us  well.  Back  of  him  we  could  see  his  men.  Our  men  kept 
up  a  constant  cheering,  and  so  did  his  until  we  had  passed. 
They  camped  near  us  that  night.  We  established  headquarters 
and  stacked  arms;  then  went  around  to  see  what  we  could 
see  while  the  cooks  got  supper.  I  went  down  to  the  river- 
bank.  It  was  running  bank-full,  swift  and  deep.  While  I 
was  there  Lyon's  pontoon  train,  as  we  called  it,  came  up.  It 
was  a  six-mule  wagon  loaded  with  stuff  he  had  got  from  the 
steamboat  stores  at  Boonville.  There  were  some  coils  of  two- 
inch  rope,  two  or  three  small  bales  of  hemp,  some  kegs  of  pitch, 
some  crosscut  saws,  axes,  adzes,  a  kit  of  carpenters'  tools,  nails, 
clotheslines,  and  many  other  things,  that  made  a  bulky  but 


176  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

not  very  heavy  load  for  the  team.  An  officer  was  at  this  time 
at  the  wagon,  and  he  looked  as  if  he  belonged  to  the  regular 
army,  and  acted  as  if  he  understood  his  business.  We  flocked 
around  him,  and  he  had  a  lot  of  clothesline  unrolled  and  was 
unrolling  a  coil  of  the  two-inch  rope.  He  asked  if  anyone  there 
could  swim.  Many  said,  yes;  then  he  said  he  wanted  three 
men  to  swim  over  with  clotheslines;  several  volunteered,  and 
he  chose  me  as  one.  Two  of  us  finally  got  across  the  river  with 
our  lines,  and  one  was  carried  down-stream.  The  officer  ordered 
me  to  tie  my  line  to  a  tree  which  he  pointed  out,  and  then  a 
squad  came  over  upon  the  rope,  hand  over  hand.  Then  we 
hauled  the  cable  over  and  snubbed  it  to  a  tree.  Two  similar 
ropes  were  put  across  above  and  below.  But  there  was  not  a 
boat,  not  even  a  canoe.  Sturgis  had  with  him  a  lot  of  regular 
cavalry,  and  he  had  sent  squads  up  the  river  to  bring  down 
everything  that  could  be  found.  By  nightfall  we  had  two 
flat  boats,  one  big  and  one  little,  together  with  a  lot  of  skiffs  and 
log  canoes.  When  I  got  back  the  officer  took  me  one  side  and 
gave  me  a  good  drink  of  brandy,  and  said  that  he  would  want 
me  when  we  got  to  the  Osage  river.  In  the  meantime  there 
was  about  a  hundred  yards  of  the  river-bottom  that  was  so 
near  impassable  that  it  had  to  be  corduroyed.  Details  of  men 
went  to  work  chopping  trees  and  cutting  the  trunks  up  into 
lengths;  other  men  drove  mules  and  snaked  the  cuts  into 
place ;  while  others  with  shovels  worked  in  the  mud  and  dug  up 
dirt  and  piled  it  on  the  corduroy.  It  did  not  take  so  very  long; 
there  were  plenty  of  men  who  knew  how  to  do  everything.  I 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  177 


did  not  work  on  the  road,  but  got  a  nap  and  a  glorious  onion 
supper,  and  went  down  to  the  river  to  see  the  crossing  begin. 
While  there  I  was  detailed,  along  with  a  Muscatine  boy,  on  the 
fire  squad.  The  night  became  dark  and  lowering,  and  the 
orders  were  to  crowd  the  ferry.  The  big  boat  went  over  first 
with  a  load  of  men  as  helpers;  we  all  took  our  arms.  On  the 
south  side  of  the  river  a  rough  untraveled  road  began  to  climb 
the  hill.  Huge  fires  had  to  be  built  so  as  to  make  light  for  the 
ferries  to  work  by.  My  companion  and  I  made  the  first  fire  on 
the  bank.  We  had  an  axe  and  there  was  much  dead  timber 
and  we  kept  the  fire  booming.  Along  the  road  up  the  hill  and 
up  and  down  the  river  other  fires  were  made.  We  kept  about 
twenty  fires  roaring;  wood  was  plenty,  and  we  lighted  up 
the  scene  in  a  way  that  was  weird  and  impressive.  I  shall 
never  forget  it.  The  same  thing  was  going  on  at  the  lower 
cable  with  the  small  flat  boat,  and  at  the  upper  (third)  cable 
with  the  skiffs  and  canoes.  We  had  ten  pieces  of  artillery  to 
cross  and  a  half- regiment  of  Sturgis's  cavalry.  The  horses  were 
swum  from  the  boats  by  their  halters.  By  3  o'clock  A.  M.  our 
regiment  was  across,  and  very  many  were  over  before  us.  After 
that  it  began  to  rain.  I  had  torn  my  wamus  almost  to  shreds, 
and  as  I  had  an  extra  pair  of  shoes  to  carry  I  threw  the  wamus 
away.  T  never  had  a  wamus  or  a  coat  again  during  the  cam 
paign.  Details  of  men  were  set  at  work  to  fix  up  the  road  that 
ran  uphill. 

I  cannot  tell  where  this  ferry-crossing  was.     My  journal  says 
nothing  of  Clinton,  so  I  know  our  regiment  did  not  pass  through 


178  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

the  town.  I  think  our  crossing  must  have  been  about  south 
of  Clinton,  and  that  we  passed  Clinton  near  the  east  side  of  the 
village,  and  went  straight  to  the  river.  The  main  road  ran 
west  of  Clinton  and  the  ferry  was  three  or  four  miles  west.  It 
was  out  of  our  way,  and  as  the  rebels  had  destroyed  the  ferries 
we  made  a  new  one  on  our  line  of  route,  or  reestablished  an 
ancient  one. 


CHAPTER  17. 

July   8th. — Grand    River. — Osage    River. — Wagons    Lightened    Up. — Mis- 
'    souri    Storekeeper. — Graybacks. — Seven    Kinds    of    Insects. — Nostalgia. 
Sturgis's   Forces. — Kansas   Officers. — Jim   Lane's   Speech. — July   9th.— 
March  to  Osage. — Game. — Log  Cabins. — Dead  Soldier. — Sunstrokes.- 
Osage  River  Reached. — July   l()th. — The  Crossing.— Deaths  and  Acci 
dents. — Fire-Guard  again. — Suicides. — The  "Jigger  Boss." 

On  July  8th  we  were  not  awakened  at  3:30,  because  we  had 
not  been  asleep  yet.  We  were  wet  and  soaking  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  after  daylight  we  dozed  a  little,  slept  a  little,  drank  hot 
coffee  by  the  quart,  and  waited  for  orders.  The  general  train 
had  not  yet  got  across  Grand  river.  Lyon  sent  a  detachment 
of  cavalry  south  to  secure  the  crossing  of  Osage  river,  which  by 
the  crooked  road  was  about  twenty-five  miles  ahead,  and  started 
out  a  Missouri  regiment  as  a  support  to  the  cavalry  and  to  give 
it  something  to  rally  on  if  they  should  meet  the  force  that  was 
said  to  be  somewhere  in  front  of  us.  Finally  our  regiment  was 
ordered  to  get  cooked  rations  for  two  days  ahead,  to  carry  us 
across  the  Osage  river.  We  were  told  to  throw  every  pound  of 
weight  out  of  the  company  wagons  that  could  be  dispensed  with; 
that  guns  and  ammunition  were  to  bo  inspected;  that  all  the 
sick  were  to  be  gathered  together  and  put  in  the  empty  wagons; 
the  flat  boats  and  skiffs  hauled  up  onto  the  bank  when  the  train 
was  across;  and  the  horses  that  needed  it  to  be  shod.  On  this 
day  I  got  a  good  deal  of  excellent  sleep.  It  was  my  good  luck. 

(179) 


180  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


During  the  day  a  big  ruffianly-looking  man  rode  into  camp  and 
sought  General  Lyon's  tent,  and  told  him  that  he  was  the  owner 
of  the  plundered  store  north  of  the'  river.  The  Missourian  said 
that  he  worked  hard  for  what  he  had,  and  he  did  not  want  to 
lose  it.  He  had  a  list  of  the  stuff  in  the  store,  and  wanted  the 
cash.  Lyon  said,  "  You  are  just  the  man  I  want  to  see."  " Ser 
geant  of  the  guard!"  he  exclaimed.  The  sergeant  came.  Said 
Lyon,  "Put  this  man  under  close  guard,  and  if  he  tries  to  get 
away,  shoot  him."  We  were  told  by  natives  that  day  who  came 
into  camp  that  this  man  had  killed  seven  Union  men.  The 
story  goes  that  he  was  taken  out  and  shot ;  we  never  saw  him 
afterwards. 

We  had  a  new  experience  in  the  Grand  river  timber:  we  got 
covered  with  wood-ticks,  seed-ticks,  and  bedbugs.  Down  in  this 
timber  and  in  other  parts  of  southern  Missouri  the  bedbug  is 
indigenous  to  the  soil  or  to  the  trees.  In  the  house  he  is  merely 
a  domesticated  stranger.  We  also  had  gradually  acquired  lice 
of  two  varieties,  of  which  the  body-louse  was  the  most  persistent. 
The  latter  afterwards  became  very  common  in  the  army  under 
the  name  of  "graybacks."  I  hate  to  tell  these  stories,  but  jus 
tice  to  history  requires  that  the  truth  be  told.  In  addition  to 
these  we  had  acquired  a  lot  of  chiggers  and  fleas.  There  was 
a  house  near  our  cam})  that  had  outdoors  a  large  soap-kettle. 
I  was  with  Corporal  Churubusco ;  we  figured  up  how  many  dif 
ferent  insects  we  were  harboring;  it  was  seven.  "Yes,"  said 
the  corporal,  "and  mosquitoes  will  be  eight."  We  got  a  fire 
under  the  soap-kettle  and  got  some  water  boiling,  and  then  put 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  181 


in  our  clothes  while  we  took  scissors  and  trimmed  each  other's 
hair  down  to  the  cuticle.  While  our  clothes  were  boiling  we 
went  down  to  the  river  in  l( undress  uniform/'  and  with  a  bar  of 
acrid,  ill-natured  soap  we  did  our  best;  then  we  returned,  wrung 
out  our  boiling  clothes,  put  them  on,  and  dried  them  in  situ  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  The  insect  pests  of  Missouri  never  let  up 
during  the  campaign;  the  chiggers  and  the  ticks  were  always 
with  us ;  they  burrowed  in  and  made  angry,  venomous  sores. 
These  eight  varieties  of  insects  kept  each  of  us  busy  during  the 
balance  of  the  campaign.  The  flies  afterwards  made  it  nine. 

The  crossing  of  Grand  river  had  not  been  without  its  dangers 
and  casualties.  We  lost  six  men,  two  of  whom  were  overcome 
with  heat  and  overwork  (whisky  probably  the  cause),  three  were 
drowned,  and  one  man  committed  suicide.  It  was  here,  at  this 
point,  that  I  first  came  across  that  army  disease  known  as  ''nos 
talgia."  The  man  gets  homesick  and  dispirited,  then  everything 
seems  to  take  hold  of  him;  he  gets  the  diarrhea,  his  stomach 
balks,  then  his  courage  breaks  its  halterstrap  and  runs  away, 
then  he  gets  erroneous  ideas  of  the  beauties  of  Kingdom  Come, 
and  finally  he  makes  up  his  mind  that  if  he  cannot  be  an  officer 
he  will  be  an  angel.  I  had  myself  been  figuring  up  if  glory  was 
not  too  expensive,  and  if  it  were  not  worth  much  less  than  it 
cost.  For  forty-eight  hours  I  had  been  considering  whether  life 
was  not  in  fact  a  good  deal  of  a  vaudeville  show.  One  of  the 
great  difficulties  with  us  was  that  we  had  not  got  any  letters 
from  home  or  our  girls  for  a  long  time,  and  the  novelty  was  worn 
off  by  hardships.  Any  young  man  sort  of  wants  to  know  whether 


182  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

he  can  stand  them  and  whether  he  is  made  of  durable  stuff,  and 
having  found  out  that  he  can,  and  is,  he  then  feels  inclined  to 
turn  his  attention  to  other  avenues  and  varieties  of  knowledge. 

General  Sturgis  joined  us  on  July  7th,  as  stated.  He  had  with 
him  about  2500  men,  as  follows : 

The  First  Kansas  Infantry;    Col.  George  W.  Deitzler. 

The  Second  Kansas  Infantry;    Col.  Robert  B.  Mitchell. 

600  Regular  Cavalry,  and 

A  Battery  of  Regular  Artillery.* 

General  Sturgis  had  been  driven  out  of  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas, 
by  the  Rebel  Government,  when  it  seized  all  U.  S.  property  and 
arms.  Sturgis,  who  was  a  major,  took  all  his  forces  to  Leaven- 
worth,  Kansas,  except  some  officers  who  would  not  go.  The 
enlisted  men  stayed  by  their  flag  and  government.  The  enlisted 
men  were  the  heroes.  They  stayed  in  the  service  and  did  good 
fighting  afterwards.  Inducements  were  offered  them  the  same 
as  to  the  officers,  but  they  did  not  take  hold  of  the  States-right 
theory,  and  allow  themselves  to  be  bribed  into  treason.  I  can 
not  account  for  this,  except  as  it  was  explained  that  the  plot  had 
been  of  long  duration  and  those  officers  had  been  worked  into 
the  U.  S.  service  who  were  of  secession  thought  and  tendency. 
The  enlisted  men  were  promised  all  kinds  of  lieutenancies,  but 
spurned  them  and  remained  loyal  to  their  country  and  its  colors. 
This  was  the  universal  testimony. 


*The  foregoing  is  my  brief  note  made  at  the  time.  In  Appendix  "A" 
will  be  found  a  statement  by  an  officer  of  Sturgis's  command,  in  a  maga 
zine  article  of  1907. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  183 

The  First  Kansas  was  organized  and  its  colonel  sworn  in,  May 
28th,  and  the  Second  Kansas,  June  20th.  They  started  with 
Sturgis  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  going  by  the  way  of  Clinton, 
Missouri,  to  join  with  General  Lyon.  General  Sturgis  had  as 
his  Adjutant  a  Captain  Gordon  Granger,  who  afterwards  became 
a  Major-General.  Both  of  the  colonels  of  the  Kansas  regiments, 
and  also  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Second  Kansas,  became 
Brigadiers.  They  turned  out  to  be  a  good  lot  of  fighters.  One 
of  the  Kansas  men  told  a  story  about  "Jim  Lane,"  (Senator  and 
Brigadier-General.)  The  Kansas  boys  at  first  all  wanted  to  go 
into  the  cavalry  and  not  the  infantry.  Lane  was  speeding  the 
call  for  troops.  Lincoln  had  called  on  Kansas  for  infantry. 
Then4  were  a  lot  of  men  who  wanted  to  go,  and  Lane  made 
speeches.  He  said:  "Now,  if  you  go  in  the  cavalry  and  dash 
into  Missouri  and  whip  them,  as  of  course  you  will,  you  will  come 
back  with  two  horses  each.  One  of  them  you  will  have  cap 
tured  from  the  enemy  and  the  other  will  be  the  one  you  rode  out 
of  Kansas  on,  and  which  you  already  had.  But  if  you  go  in  the 
infantry  you  will  come  back  with  two  horses,  both  of  which  you 
will  have  captured  from  the  enemy.  By  so  doing  you  will  have 
gained  more  and  the  enemy  retained  less."  The  speech  took, 
so  it  is  said. 

On  July  9th  we  were  awakened  at  3:30,  as  usual.  It  had 
rained  very  hard  during  the  latter  part  of  the  night,  and  as  we 
had  no  tents  we  did  not  sleep  very  well ;  the  wind  blew  a  perfect 
gale  towards  morning,  and  the  lightning  pecked  around  in  the 
trees  for  about  an  hour.  Couriers  were  dashing  around,  and 


184  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


the  news  was  given  out  that  Sigel  had  been  surrounded  and  could 
not  hold  out  more  than  three  days ;  and  that  we  must  reinforce 
him  by  that  time  or  he  would  be  captured,  then  we  captured 
next,  and  Springfield  lost.  Governor  Claib  Jackson  was  said  to 
have  8000  men  down  on  the  " Muddy"  south  of  the  village  of 
Lamar,  and  that  a  portion  of  his  troops  together  with  those  from 
Arkansas  had  had  a  running  fight  with  Sigel,  and  had  got  him 
cut  off. 

Our  regiment  was  started  out  alone  from  cam})  to  follow  and 
overtake  the  Missouri  regiment  that  had  started  for  the  Osage 
river  twenty-three  hours  before,  to  reinforce  the  cavalry.  A 
fight  at  the  Osage  crossing  wras  expected.  With  two  days  of 
cooked  rations  in  our  haversacks  we  started  through  the  mud. 
Our  load  was  now  28  pounds.  It  was  6  o'clock  A.  M.  We  left 
the  wagons  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Lyon  wanted  some  men 
on  the  banks  of  the  Osage  river  just  as  soon  as  he  could  get  them 
there,  and  he  thought  the  "greyhounds"  from  Iowa  could  get 
there  sooner  than  anybody.  We  struck  up  "The  Happy  Land 
of  Canaan,"  and  moved  off,  with  General  Lyon  evidently  pleased 
at  our  style,  as  he  sat  on  his  horse  and  watched  us.  Lyon  did 
not  smile  when  he  was  pleased — he  just  pulled  his  chin  whiskers 
with  his  mouth  half  open.  The  face  of  the  country  changed. 
The  soil  seemed  to  be  changed ;  streaks  of  iron-rust  appeared  in 
the  rocks;  the  road  was  bad  and  crooked.  There  were  lots  more 
of  brush  and  timber.  Houses  were  very  scarce.  We  saw  in  the 
the  distance  sometimes  herds  of  deer.  We  had  seen  lots  of  wild 
turkeys  in  the  timber;  some  of  the  soldiers  had  cut  down  trees 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  185 


with  coons  in.  The  houses  that  we  met  were  all  log  cabins. 
There  was  no  sawed  lumber  in  them.  They  had  puncheon  floors, 
and  clapboard  roofs,  split  out  of  oak  blocks  with  a  ufro"  (frow)*; 
no  windows  or  glass,  only  shutters.  Every  one  of  them  was 
deserted.  Our  course  went  over  a  ridge;  we  suffered  much  for 
water;  we  took  it  from  pools  and  puddles.  In  a  cabin  at  some 
little  distance  from  the  road,  where  we  halted  for  a  few  min 
utes,  the  door  was  broken  in  and  a  dead  soldier  found,  of  the 
Missouri  regiment  that  had  passed  the  day  before.  We  lost  sev 
eral  men  from  sunstroke,  and  many  suffered  so  from  excessive 
heat  that  they  straggled  and  formed  a  group  by  themselves  in 
the  rear.  It  was  about  twenty-five  miles  across,  and  as  we  got 
a  little  more  than  half-way,  and  across  the  ridge,  a  courier  came 
from  Lyon  and  hurried  us  on.  We  did  our  best,  and  got  in  about 
six  o'clock  P.  M.  ;  about  750  came  in  with  the  regiment  and  about 
100  were  stragglers  that  got  in  along  from  7  to  12  at  night.  I 
came  in  with  the  regiment,  but  was  tired,  indescribably  tired; 
every  muscle  was  aching  and  every  nerve  was  on  a  quiver.  Old 
Mace  was  back  with  the  wagons.  I  wanted  a  tin-cupful  of 
" nourishment,"  but  there  was  none.  We  stopped  near  the 
bank  of  the  river  and  stacked  arms.  We  had  no  tents,  no  wag 
ons,  "no  nothing,"  except  what  we  carried.  Had  worn  the  feet 
off  from  my  last  pair  of  socks.  T  felt  lonesome,  and  did  not  want 
to  talk.  I  went  down  to  the  river  and  it  was  bank-full.  There 
was  a  little  quiet,  overflowed  side  arm  to  the  river,  and  I  deter 
mined  to  go  in  and  cool  off.  We  were  all  sunburned  and  swarthy. 


*For  the  picture  of  a  frow,  see  Century  Dictionary. 


186  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

I  stuck  my  bayonet,  fixed  to  the  musket,  down  into  the  ground, 
and  took  off  what  few  clothes  I  had  and  hung  them  on  the  gun. 
I  passed  a  six-foot  snake  in  a  bush  that  had  been  driven  out  of 
his  hole  by  the  water  and  I  shook  him  out,  but  could  not  kill 
him.  I  then  got  into  the  water  and  sat  in  it  up  to  my  chin  until 
I  got  cooled  off.  I  threw  away  my  fragmentary  socks,  washed 
the  mud  out  of  my  shoes,  and  went  back  to  the  company  line. 
The  boys  were  lying  around  on  the  ground ;  some  were  sleeping, 
some  were  smoking  and  some  were  eating,  but  none  were  talking. 
We  had  no  roll-call,  no  guard-mount,  no  bugling;  it  was  every 
body  for  himself.  We  were  told  to  sleep  on  our  arms ;  that  we 
were  in  danger.  I  finally  went  off  and  spread  my  blanket  on  a 
nice  damp,  cool,  rheumatic  piece  of  ground,  and  with  my  head 
on  my  equipment  I  went  to  sleep,  and  did  not  wake  up  until 
the  bugle  called  at  three-thirty  in  the  morning.  We  had  started 
twenty-three  hours  behind  the  Missouri  regiment  and  had  got  in 
only  four  hours  behind  them.  We  had  walked  the  25  miles  in 
12  hours,  they  in  31  hours;  but  they  had  not  been  pushed. 

On  July  10th,  after  3 : 30  in  the  morning,  everything  was  stir 
and  bustle.  We  had  to  get  across  the  river  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  regular  cavalry  that  preceded  us  had  captured  and  se 
cured  the  ferry  and  had  got  some  other  boats;  in  fact,  quite  a 
lot  of  the  small  ones.  A  company  of  the  Missouri  regiment  had 
gone  across  and  felled  trees  and  made  a  little  fort,  so  as  to  hold 
the  ferry  if  attacked.  This  ferry  was  near  Osceola,  but  we  did 
not  march  through  the  town.  There  had  been  some  bad  wash 
outs,  and  new  roads  had  to  be  cut  and  some  digging  done.  The 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  187 

tools  were4  few,  but  when  a  new  man,  every  ten  minutes,  gets 
hold  of  the  axe  or  spado,  and  works  it  as  hard  as  he  can,  there 
is  lots  accomplished.  Artillery  and  soldiers  and  teams  began 
to  come  in  the  morning.  Some  of  them  had  boon  going  all 
night.  We  got  the  trees  cut  and  the  roads  dug  and  our  regi 
ment  began  to  cross.  We  went  half  a  mile  south  of  the  river 
after  we  had  crossed,  and  went  into  camp.  Teams  were  coming 
up  and  crossing  all  day.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  teams,  beef 
cattle  and  the  rear  guard  did  not  all  get  across  for  two  days. 
I  managed  to  pick  up  quite  a  nice  little  lot  of  sleep.  In  the 
evening  I  was  dotailod  as  a  fire-guard  along  with  a  Dubuque 
man,  and  we  kept  a  roaring  fire  until  we  were  relayed  at  12 
midnight.  There  were  several  men  lost  at  this  point.  Four 
men  overcome  with  heat  died.  Another  man  was  killed  in 
the  felling  of  the  tro:s.  On'j  was  accidentally  shot.  One  man 
was  on  the  ground  asleep,  and  an  army  wagon  turning  out  of 
the  road  ran  over  him  and  broke4  his  neck.  Two  men  were 
missing.  They  had  either  deserted  or  had  gone  out  foraging 
and  boon  waylaid.  A  strange  thing  happened  on  the  ferry 
boat.  A  soldier  intending  suicide  jumped  overboard  and  did 
not  come  up  again;  another  jumped  over  after  him.  It  was 
supposed  at  the  time  that  the  latter  intended  to  rescue  the 
former,  but  it  was  soon  seen  that  the  suggestion  of  suicide  made 
by  the  former  had  boon  followed  out  instantaneously  by  the 
latter.  Casualties  were  happening  constantly.  During  the 
evening  while  on  the  fire  duty  a  wagon-boss  came  along;  ho 
had  got  his  teams  in  and  had  them  near  us,  and  ho  wanted  to 


188  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

sit  down  and  rest  and  smoke.  He  had  some  "white-mule" 
in  his  canteen,  and  he  gave  both  of  us  a  drink.  He  called  it  a 
"jigger,"  and  said  that  he  used  to  be  "fourth  Jigger  Boss"  on 
a  canal.  This  was  a  new  expression  to  me,  and  I  asked  him 
what  it  was ;  and  this  was  the  definition ;  he  said : 

"Before  the  Mexican  War  there  had  been  a  great  craze  about 
building  canals.  Everybody  was  wanting  to  build  a  canal  and 
everybody  wanted  one  to  come  by  his  door.  It's  railroads 
now,"  said  he,  "then  it  was  canals.  Well,  the  labor  mostly 
came  from  Europe,  and  there  was  so  much  competition  that 
labor  was  scarce,  and  the  way  to  get  it  was  to  pay  as  much  as 
anybody  and  give  them  'jiggers'  thrown  in.  I  was  on  canal 
work;  different  people  and  places  were  bidding  against  each 
other,  and  it  was  at  first  three  jiggers  per  man  a  day,  then  it 
got  up  to  four,  five,  and  then  six.  Other  contractors  would 
send  emissaries  onto  our  dump  and  offer  the  same  wages  and 
more  jiggers,  until  we  got  up  to  ten.  The  whisky  was  common 
corn  country-still  whisky,  and  we  got  it  for  seven  dollars  a 
barrel,  including  the  barrel.  We'd  put  a  little  water  and 
cayenne  pepper  into  it,  and  it  cost  us  a  cent  a  jigger.  One  man 
attended  to  the  jiggers,  but  as  business  got  better  we  had  two, 
and  then  three,  and  finally  I  was  number  four.  It  took  a  mighty 
good  man  to  be  fourth  jigger  boss.  The  fourth  jigger  boss  came 
last,  and  he  had  the  hardest  time  of  all.  Of  course  you  must 
not  give  a  jigger  to  a  man  who  is  already  full,  and  as  I  came 
around  last  I  had  to  refuse  those  who  had  riot  ought  to  have 
any  more.  Well,  when  I  refused  a  man  he  wanted  to  fight. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  189 

Pie  swore  that  I  was  trying  to  rob  him,  and  cheat  him,  and  I 
had  to  lick  about  twenty  drunken  men  a  day.  The  work  had 
to  go  on  and  the  men  must  not  be  in  such  condition  that  they 
could  not  work ;  if  they  were,  the  foreman  of  the  dump  would 
report  mo,  and  I  had  to  be  careful, — see  that  scar  there,  and 
here;  had  several  ribs  broke;  but  I  made  them  come  to  time. 
O'Brien  who  built  the  'Big  Cayuga'  said  I  was  the  safest  jigger 
boss  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  I  like  to  give  a  man  a  jigger 
when  I  think  he  needs  it;  you  needed  that  one  I  gave  you; 
take  another  one;  it's  good,  nutritious  corn  whisky,  and  I've 
got  some  more  in  the  wagon  that's  never  boon  drank ;  good 
whisky  '11  never  hurt  any  man." 


CHAPTER  18. 

July  llth. — Wild  Hogs. — DC  Soto. — Soap  in  Shoes. — Wardrobe. — Inven 
tory  of  Pockets. — Dead  Soldier. — Wagons  Lightened. — All-night  March. 
— Lyon  at  the  Fire. — July  12. — A  Long  March. — Stockton. — Melville. 
— Gravelly. — Raw  Bacon. — Ragged  Soldiers. — Union  Sentiment. — Cabin 
on  Prairie. — Happy  Land  of  Canaan. 

On  July  llth  we  had  reveille  at  3  : 30  in  the  morning.  Corporal 
Bill  had  run  across  a  hog  in  the  timber  and  had  got  it  on  his 
bayonet  arid  brought  it  in.  It  was  one  of  those  "rail-splitters" 
so  common  then  in  the  country.  Old  Mace  had  got  in,  and  we 
had  fresh  pork  for  breakfast.  The  hogs  that  infested  the  forests 
of  southern  Missouri  and  northern  Arkansas  at  that  early  day 
were  a  very  fine  species  of  domestic  game.  Some  were  as  wild 
and  as  fleet  as  deer;  others  had  been  domesticated  somewhat 
and  we're  much  tamer,  but  they  were  all  nevertheless  wild  ani 
mals.  They  were  the  descendants  of  the  hogs  that  De  Soto 
brought  with  him  through  this  country.  The  stories  of  the 
difficulties,  dangers  and  privations  of  De  Soto  an4  probably 
imaginary.  He  started  from  Tampa  with  a  large1  drove  of 
hogs  for  food.  He  had  such  .a  good  time  of  it  that  he  drove 
them  slowly  and  safely  for  a  couple  of  thousand  miles,  and  had 
so  much  to  eat  and  the  hogs  so  increased  in  number  that  when 
De  Soto  died  in  Arkansas  his  share  of  the  herd  had  become  a 
large  drove1.  Some  of  the  hogs  escaped,  and  many  presents 
of  others  were  made  by  De  Soto  to  the  Indian  chiefs.  So  there 

(190) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  191 


were  enough  to  populate  in  three  centuries  all  of  the  forests 
through  that  part  of  the  country.  After  getting  a  taste  of  the 
11  mast-fed  razor-back"  we  never  after  that  missed  an  oppor 
tunity  of  taking  one  in.  They  were  technically  known  to  the 
boys  as  " antelope." 

Before  starting  out  this  morning  without  socks  I  was  com 
plaining  that  my  shoes  were  stiff  and  hard,  and  old  Mace  said, 
''In  the  Mexican  \Yar  when  the  boys  didn't  have  socks  they 
used  to  fill  their  shoes  full  of  soap."  This  struck  me  as  a  good 
plan  of  campaign ;  so  I  melted  up  a  big  piece  of  bar  soap,  and 
got  each  shoe  so  full  that  it  "squshed"  up  at  the  tops  when  on. 
They  were  plump  full.  They  felt  delicious.  I  skated  around 
in  them,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  march.  In  gathering  up  my 
belongings  this  morning  ready  to  start  I  found  that  some  one 
had  stolen  my  new  pair  of  shoes.  This  was  a  serious  loss  and 
left  me  subject  to  misfortune,  for  there  was  no  place  where  I 
could  steal  a  pair  back  and  get  even.  My  wardrobe  now  con 
sisted  of  a  hat  and  pair  of  shoes,  both  black  and  well  worn,  and 
in  between  them  a  slate-colored  woolen  shirt  and  a  pair  of 
trousers.  I  also  had  a  nice  pair  of  light,  cool  summer  shoe 
strings  made  of  buckskin.  I  also  had  a  large  square,  red- 
bordered,  cotton  pocket-handkerchief  with  a  large  blue  steam 
boat  plying  up  a  picturesque  and  beautiful  yellow  river  in  the 
center.  This  handkerchief  was  invaluable  if  it  did  cost  only 
fifty  cents  in  Boonville.  It  was  my  necktie,  and  in  marching 
I  put  the  ends  around  my  hat  and  let  it  hang  down  like  a  "Have- 
lock"  to  keep  the  sun  from  the  back  of  my  delicately  chiseled 


192  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


neck,  so  as  to  avoid  sunstroke.  In  a  hip  pocket  I  carried  a 
diary  from  which  I  write  these  notes.  It  had  an  oilcloth  cover 
that  hardly  protected  it.  A  piece  of  lead-pencil,  a  knife  grown 
rusty,  a  plug  of  chewing-tobacco,  and  a  hunting-case  "silver 
watch  which  was  not  water-tight  and  hence  refused  at  intervals 
to  do  business,  was  a  complete  inventory  of  the  contents  of  the 
pockets,  save  and  except  a  little  wad  of  Missouri  paper  money. 
It  was  thus  we  started  out  on  July  llth.  We  went  down 
the  east  side  of  Sac  (Sauk)  river.  We  expected  to  have  a  fight 
before  night.  Irregular  companies  of  secesh  "partisan  rangers," 
as  they  were  called,  were  all  around  us,  and  the  main  rebel  army 
might  be  anywhere  in  front  of  us,  or  on  top  of  us,  at  any  time. 
Natives  professing  to  be  Union  men  came  into  camp  and  told 
us  of  bands,  of  Confederate  troops  in  every  direction  around  us ; 
even  in  our  rear.  These  troops  were  enrolled  as  Missouri  State 
Guards.  They  were  Confederate  soldiers  under  the  guise  of 
State  troops,  armed  to  resist  invasion.  We  had  not  gone  far 
the  morning  of  the  llth  when  we  passed  near  a  hamlet  con 
sisting  of  a  store  building,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  two  or  three 
houses,  all  of  logs.  Some  of  our  cavalry  had  discovered  the 
dead  body  of  one  of  our  soldiers  in  a  field.  The  store  was 
broken  open  and  searched,  and  another  dead  soldier  of  the  regu 
lar  infantry  was  found  hidden  under  the  counter  with  some 
boards  piled  over  him.  There  were  then  no  goods  in  the  store, 
they  having  been  moved  in  anticipation  of  our  coming.  We 
marched  until  noon.  After  that  we  crossed  to  the  west  side  of 
Sac  river,  and  made  a  halt  for  a  brief  rest.  I  ate  from  my  haver- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  193 


sack  and  slept  until  time  came  for  starting;  just  before  then 
the  company  team  came  up.  Our  crossing  of  Sac  river  was 
about  twenty  miles  south  of  our  Osage  river  crossing.  Our 
tents  had  been  thrown  out,  and  the  wagon  contained  only  the 
company  desk,  a  few  cooking  utensils,  a  lot  of  hard-tack  and 
side-meat,  and  three  or  four  of  the  boys  that  were  temporarily 
out  of  repair.  The  other  stuff  had  been  left  on  the  side  of  the 
road  for  empty  wagons  coming  up  to  take  in  and  haul  on.  We 
were  ordered  to  put  into  the  company  wagon  our  blankets  and 
everything  but  our  guns,  ammunition  and  canteens,  and  be 
ready  for  a  fight.  The  wagons  were  ordered  to  each  keep  be 
hind  their  respective  regiments.  I  forgot  to  say  that  in  each 
wagon  had  been  placed  boxes  containing  3000  musket  car 
tridges,  and  in  our  wagon  had  been  placed  a  small  chest  of  tea, 
— where  from,  I  do  not  know.  After  our  lunch  we  moved  on 
at  a  rapid  gait,  and  did  not  stop  until  sundown.  Our  team 
had  kept  up,  and  we  halted  and  made  some  camp-kettles  full 
of  strong  tea,  which  we  drank  with  pleasure  and  benefit.  I 
had  never  eaten  any  side-meat,  and  I  could  not  do  so.  I  had 
always  managed  to  get  plenty  of  something  else  and  avoid  it. 
We  expected  to  camp,  but  got  no  orders,  and  we  marched  on 
thinking  that  at  any  minute  we  would  be  turned  in  on  the  side 
of  the  road;  but  we  kept  on  walking  until  midnight.  We 
were  getting  very  tired.  The  cavalry  were  in  the  advance. 
We  heard  a  gun  fire.  Then  several  guns  at  different  angles 
from  the  front,  and  we  thought  that  we  had  run  into  the  enemy 
by  night  and  that  a  battle  was  coming  on.  But  still  we  kept 


194  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


on  inarching;  at  last  there  was  a  break  of  dawn.  We  had 
inarched  nearly  twenty-four  hours.  As  we  came  to  some  tim 
ber  wo  were  halted.  I  ran  around  to  find  some  water  to  fill  my 
canteen,  and  got  about  a  hundred  yards  from  my  company 
and  came  to  a  little  dying  fire  where  the  enemy  had  been.  Be 
side  it  was  a  blanket  spread  out,  and  some  baggage.  I  sat 
down  on  the  blanket  and  was  drying  my  shoes  at  the  fire  and 
moralizing  on  the  painfulness  and  inconveniences  of  war,  and  its 
demoralizing  tendencies,  when  General  Lyon  rode  up  and 
requested  me  in  an  abrupt  and  thoughtless  manner  to  get  off 
from  that  blanket  and  double-quick  to  my  company.  I  did 
this  with  such  haste  as  my  condition  would  permit ;  as  I  went 
away  I  turned  to  watch  him.  He  hastily  dismounted  and 
spread  out  a  large  map  on  the  blanket,  and  then  he  and  his 
staff  got  their  heads  together  tracing  out  the  lines.  I  found 
my  company,  and  had  hardly  got  curled  up  on  the  ground  when 
the  column  was  ordered  to  start,  and  off  we  went  again.  "The 
Happy  Land  of  Canaan"  was  started,  but  after  a  lingering 
and  emaciated  existence  it  died  suddenly  as  we  came  to  a  crook 
that  was  up  to  our  knees  and  we  had  to  wade.  The  soap  in 
my  shoes  was  a  little  diluted,  but  it  continued  to  be  a  blessing, 
and  there  was  lots  of  it  still  there.  While  we  were  attempt 
ing  to  sing,  Captain  Matthies,  afterwards  Brigadier-General, 
came  forward  to  talk  with  our  First  Lieutenant,  and  as  he  passed 
me  he  said,  "You  should  that  singing  stop.  You  will  your 
strength  lost." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  195 


It  was  now  growing  light  (July  12th) ;  everybody  was  getting 
tired  and  sleepy.  If  a  man  stumbled  and  fell  he  did  not  get 
up  again.  The  artillery  was  behind  us;  so  when  one  of  our 
men  broke  down  and  gave  up  we  had  to  pull  him  to  the  side  of 
the  road  so  that  the  artillery  would  not  run  over  him.  The  sun 
rose  hot  and  blistering,  and  still  we  were  marching.  Our  com 
pany  wagon  was  not  far  in  the  rear,  and  several  of  our  boys 
had  been  picked  up  and  thrown  into  it,  but  the  horses  were 
struggling  along  with  great  difficulty  and  with  much  misery. 
All  of  our  company  in  front  of  me  had  fallen  out  and  I  was  in 
the  van,  and  with  me  was  another  tall,  slim,  whalebone  of  a  lad. 
His  name  was  Chapman;  he  had  one  black  eye  and  one  blue 
eye,  and  was  one  of  the  \ery  best.  He  was  afterwards  one  of 
the  honored  Judges  of  Nebraska.  In  order  that  neither  of  us 
would  fall  down  and  go  out  of  commission  we  took  hold  of  hands, 
and  when  he  stumbled  I  yanked  him  and  when  I  stumbled  he 
yanked  me.  We  kept  changing  sides  and  changing  hands,  shift 
ing  our  muskets  every  time.  AYe  led  the  company.  During  a 
momentary  halt  Bill  Heustis  said,  UI  wish  I  had  stayed  at  home 
and  sent  my  big  brother."  AYe  went  through  the  villages  of 
Stockton  and  Melville.  I  do  not  find  Melville  now  on  the  map; 
it  was  about  the  place  where  Dadeville  now  is.  Going  through 
the  town  of  Stockton  there  was  great  Union  sentiment  displayed. 
There  was  a  man  there  by  the  name  of  u Gravelly";  he  said 
he  was  gravelly  by  name  and  gravelly  by  nature.  He  was  after 
wards  a  Union  Colonel,  and  Brevet  Brigadier.  He  was  entitled 


196  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


to  it.  All  the  women  and  girls  came  out  to  see  us  pass. 
AYe  did  not  look  well.  Our  uniforms,  if  that  was  their  name, 
were  very  ragged.  Most  of  the  boys  had  apertures  through 
their  raiment,  and  most  of  them  had  thrown  away  their 
coats.  Their  shirts  were  out  at  the  elbows,  and  frequently  rip 
ped  down  the  backs.  The  black  slouch  hats  set  the  whole  thing 
off  in  an  artistic  way.  My  pants  had  whiskers  on  the  bottom 
four  inches  long  and  were  ripped  down  on  both  sides  in  a  dan 
gerous-looking  way,  and  I  did  not  like  to  have  the  girls  looking 
at  me.  They  were  in  great  numbers.  So  tired,  so  muddy  and 
so  dirty  were  we  that  we  looked  like  a  gang  of  discouraged  ban 
dits.  But  we  tried  to  appear  frisky,  and  we  marched  the  best 
we  could  and  we  sang  the  "Happy  Land  of  Canaan"  the  best 
we  knew  how,  and  as  the  town  was  small  we  got  through  it  with 
out  ruining  ourselves  in  heroic  efforts  to  show  off.  And  the  girls 
clapped  their  hands.  We  finally  went  into  camp  about  noon,  I 
guess.  A  friendly  cloud  had  come  across  the  sky,  and  we  could 
not  see  the  sun  and  we  had  lost  all  knowledge  of  time.  It  might 
have  been  10  o'clock  or  it  might  have  been  2  p.  M.  Our  wagon 
drove  up.  My  appetite  was  good;  we  had  marched  48  miles. 
The  official  report  says  we  marched  46  miles  without  stopping, 
then  halted  two  hours  and  marched  6  miles  further,  which  would 
make  52  miles.  I  give  my  own  figures  as  made  at  the  time.  We 
had  worn  out  the  cavalry  and  the  artillery,  and  they  were  lag 
ging  behind,  hardly  able  to  move.  But  alas!  of  our  company 
only  32  came  in  on  the  home-stretch — the  balance  were  strewn 
along  the  road.  We  thirty-two  boys  fairly  hugged  one  another 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  197 


when  we  were  told  that  we  had  accomplished  the  purpose,  and 
had  saved  Sigel,  and  that  the  enemy  that  were  trying  to  pen  him 
up  had  fled. 

I  went  to  the  company  wagon  to  get  something  to  eat.  There 
was  hard-tack  and  side-meat.  I  had  never  eaten  side-meat. 
I  could  never  stomach  it.  It  was  salt-cured,  smoked  pork. 
But  I  had  an  appetite  that  had  been  honed  and  had  the 
finest  edge  on  it  ever  known.  I  cut  off  a  piece  of  the  meat; 
I  had  no  time  to  cook  it.  I  ate  it  raw,  and  then  I  ate 
more  of  it.  I  shall  never  forget  this  circumstance.  I  often 
refer  to  it ;  it  probably  lengthened  my  life  by  many  years.  I 
have  since  noticed  that  consumptives  cannot  or  will  not  eat  fat 
bacon.  Before  the  day  I  speak  of  I  never  could  eat  it,  and  after 
wards  I  always  liked  it,  and  nothing  but  that  march  could  have 
changed  my  appetite.  I  have  always  been  thankful  for  that 
march;  it  changed  my  life.  Bill  Heustis  used  to  speak  of  me  in 
this  wise:  "See  old  Link  a-standing  up  there,  six  feet  high  and 
six  inches  square."  I  finally  became  lots  squarer  than  that. 

As  soon  as  I  had  my  lunch  on  raw  bacon  sandwiches  I  curled 
up  and  went  to  sleep  under  a  bush,  and  was  waked  up  to  go  on 
guard  duty  at  8  o'clock.  I  was  stiff  and  lame  and  still  hungry. 

This  march  cost  our  regiment  quite  a  squad  of  men  overcome 
with  the  heat.  Our  camp  was  on  the  middle  fork  of  Sac  river. 

One  of  our  boys  found  a  good  horse  tied  in  the  timber  near  our 
camp,  and  the  horse  was  put  into  our  company  team  to  help 
pull.  We  had  run  out  of  forage  and  were  working  our  horses  on 
grass  until  we  got  near  Stockton,  where  we  came  into  a  good 


198  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

country  again  and  could  got  a  little  corn  for  horse-feed.  But  the 
secesh  had  stripped  the  country  lean;  they  had  left  a  little,  but 
not  much.  The  way  was  this:  There  were  communities  in 
which  the  Union  sentiment  prevailed  and  other  communities  in 
which  secession  sentiment  prevailed;  Missouri  was  very  " spot 
ted/'  and  where  the  Union  sentiment  prevailed  the  country  was 
lean  because  the  secesh  took  from  the  Union  men,  robbed  them, 
murdered  them,  or  drove  them  out  if  they  could.  There  was  a 
vast  amount  of  incendiarism.  The  Rebel  army  had  got  about 
all  the  groceries  in  the  country  through  which  we  were  now  pass 
ing,  and  had  confiscated  about  all  the  beef  and  emptied  the  smoke 
houses.  The  latter  were  a  great  source  of  supply,  for  each  farmer 
killed  his  own  pork  and  smoked  it  up  a  year  ahead,  and  every 
farm  had  its  smoke-house.  Being  detailed  on  guard  that  night, 
I  went  to  headquarters  and  heard  the  news  that  we  had  run  out 
of  rations,  and  that  everything  in  stock  had  been  issued  to  the 
companies;  that  is,  all  of  the  regular  rations  that  the  quarter 
master  had  brought  along  were  issued  and  the  wagons  were 
empty.  Our  company  had  on  hand  some  hard-tack  and  coffee, 
but  no  sugar,  rice,  or  anything  else, — just  biscuit  and  coffee. 
We  had  been  running  a  race  with  hunger  as  well  as  with  Price 
and  Claib  Jackson.  I  was  put  on  picket  out  about  two  miles 
with  two  other  men,  among  a  clump  of  sumac  bushes,  on  the 
edge  of  a  little  prairie ;  a  house  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  prai 
rie.  We  slept  alternately  and  went  in  at  3:30  on  call  of  the 
bugle.  We  "skirmished"  for  something  to  eat;  we  found  the 


HISTORY  01'    THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  199 


house  across  the  prairie  deserted  and  not  a  single  thing — hog, 
chicken,  vegetable,  or  anything  eatable.  The  house,  a  log  cabin, 
had  a  lot  of  things  in  it,  and  it  looked  as  if  there  had  been  dis 
turbance  in  it ;  things  were  slung  around  and  gave  an  appear 
ance  of  pillage  and  a  fight. 

The  song  of  ''The  Happy  Land  of  Canaan"  which  braced  us 
up  on  this  terrible  inarch,  and  which  I  first  heard  "'French  Joe" 
sing  in  the  Macon  City  guard-house,  has  long  since  gone  from  my 
memory.  It  was  a  folk-song  concerning  John  Brown.  It  told 
about  the  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry,  the  attack,  his  being 
wounded,  his  capture,  his  trial,  what  everybody  said  at  the  trial, 
the  sentence,  the  governor  and  the  death  warrant,  the  execution, 
and  the  moral.  It  had  many  verses;  the  song  was  catchy,  and 
on  it  a  thousand  other  verses  were  built  on  every  conceivable  sub 
ject.  There  were,  however,  certain  verses  that  became  standard 
and  were  sung  on  all  of  our  outbursts.  I  can  only  give  two 
verses;  they  are  misfitted,  but  will  show  the  rhyme  and  meter: 

()  the  Iowa  First,  Arc  the  boys  that  dare  the  worst; 
And  on  the  rebels  they  are  slowly  gaining. 

If  they'll  fight  instead  of  run, 

We  will  show  them  lots  of  fun; 
And  they'll  never  see  the  Happy  Land  of  Canaan. 

CHORUS. 

O-ho.     O-ho.     O-ho. 
A-ha.     A-ha.     A-ha. 
The  time  of  retribution  am  a-coming; 
For  with  bayonet  and  shell 
.  We  will  give  the  rebels  hell; 
And  they'll  never  see  the  Happy  Land  of  Canaan. 


200  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


We  love  our  country  wide.  And  its  banner  is  our  pride, — 
We  pledge  our  lives  and  fortunes  to  sustain  'em. 

If  we  perish  in  the  cause 

Of  the  Union  and  its  laws, 
We  are  sure  to  reach  the  Happy  Land  of  Canaan. 

CHORUS. 

O-ho.     O-ho.     O-ho. 
A-ha.     A-ha,     A-ha. 
The  time  of  retribution  am  a-coming; 
For  with  bayonet  and  shell 
We  will  give  the  rebels  hell ; 
And  they'll  never  see  the  Happy  Land  of  Canaan. 

It  can  easily  be  seen  that  the  rhymes  are  rude  and  the  verses 
easily  constructed,  and  that  almost  anybody  could  add  a  verse 
to  the  general  fund.  The  boys  were  particularly  heavy  on  the 
chorus.  In  singing  this  song  the  boys  gave  particular  emphasis 
to  the  word  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  line  of  the  chorus.  The  boys 
who  were  pious  substituted  the  words  "hail  Columbia/'  but  it 
disabled  them  from  catching  up  in  time  with  the  sixth  line,  and 
they  did  not  get  in  on  the  home-stretch. 


CHAPTER  19. 

July  13th. — Short  Food. — Free  Fights. — Trousers  Wrecked. — Headed  for 
Springfield.  —  Corn  Cure.  —  Chicken-Hunting. —  Hot  Biscuit. —  Dutch 
Ovens. — The  Pants. — June  14th. — Little  York. — Xo  Supplies. — Camp 
Mush. — Murder. — Execution. — No  Chaplain. — -Sunday  Busy  Day.— 
Refitting  Trousers. — Union  Sentiment. — Weaving. — Coloring. — Butter 
nut. — New  Trousers. — Belle  of  the  Mohawk  Vale. — General  Sturgis. — 
July  loth. — Mush  and  Water. — Harness-Making. — No  Rations. — No 
Drill. — Regiment  Neglected. — Cooking  Corn-meal. — Bill  Huestis's  Bugle- 
Call.— Boot-heel  Plug. 

On  the  Morning  of  July  13th,  we  had  for  breakfast  only 
coffee  and  hard-tack.  Some  of  the  boys  were  weak  enough  to 
grumble.  Corporal  Bill  said  that  he  could  lick  any  man  that 
would  grumble.  Drulard  had  been  grumbling,  and  objected  to 
Bill's  remark.  Bill  retorted  that  Drulard  never  had  lived  so 
high  in  his  life  as  he  had  since  he  had  been  in  the  army,  and  now 
that  as  the  Government  couldn't  do  any  better,  just  for  a  while, 
that  he,  Drulard,  had  better  shut  up;  and  Bill  wound  up  by 
saying  that  he,  Bill,  could  lick  any  man  that  would  grumble,  any 
how.  Drulard  was  bigger  than  Bill,  but  not  as  scientific,  and 
they  went  at  it  hammer  and  tongs.  It  did  not  last  long;  we 
formed  a  ring,  and  Drulard  was  soon  ready  to  quit.  Then  an 
other  man  wanted  to  fight  Bill,  and  Grimes  went  after  the  new 
man,  saying,  "I  want  some  of  this,  too."  In  a  short  time  there 
were  half  a  dozen  free  fights  in  progress,  in  one  of  which  I  became 
partially  interested.  I  got  out  of  it  in  reasonably  good  shape, 

(201) 


202  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


except  that  my  trousers  became  a  total  wreck.  We  soon  set  off 
to  march,  and  it  seemed  that  I  was  all  the  time  stepping  out 
doors.  I  tied  strings  around  each  leg  above  the  knee,  and  got 
along  all  right,  only  hoping  that  we  would  have  no  lady  spectators 
along  the  route. 

On  our  big  48-mile  march  we  had  camped  many  miles  south 
east  of  Stockton;  we  were  now  headed  for  Springfield. 

On  this  day  (13th)  we  marched  eighteen  miles;  we  had  been 
somewhat  stiff  and  sore,  but  worked  it  off  this  day,  and  al 
though  quite  tired,  had  got  limber  again.  All  last  night  the 
boys  that  had  been  left  behind  on  the  big  march  came  straggling 
in,  until  when  we  started  this  morning  only  about  ten  were  out. 
They  tagged  along  in  the  rear,  and  caught  up  with  us  on  the 
night  of  the  13th.  We  got  into  camp  about  3  P.  M.  I  had  not  had 
my  shoes  off  for  three  days.  I  went  down  to  a  creek  to  get 
washed  up  and  cooled  off,  for  it  was  very  hot,  and  when  I  took 
off  my  shoes  I  was  surprised  to  see  what  had  taken  place :  all 
the  corns  1  had  on  my  feet  came  off  whole  just  like  buttons.  It 
was  the  action  of  the  soap.  I  never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  My 
feet  came  out  as  white  and  hard  and  polished  as  porcelain.  I 
have  often  thought  that  some  enterprising  chiropodist  might 
make  a  fortune  by  giving  his  patients  the  treatment  I  adopted. 
I  never  had  any  trouble  with  my  feet  after  that,  and  never  had 
another  corn,  although  I  was  in  the  service  over  four  years  longer. 
I  believe  I  was  benefitted  for  life. 

I  had  a  little  money  left,  and  wanted  something  to  cat.  Coffee 
and  crackers  were  not  enough.  I  suggested  to  Corporal  Bill 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  203 

that  he  and  I  go  out  "a-skirmishing."  We  went  prepared  to 
fight.  We  took  our  muskets,  and  got  about  two  miles  from  camp 
when  we  came  to  a  cabin  and  saw  chickens.  There  was  a  woman 
there  with  a  negro  woman  and  a  half-grown  girl.  They  were 
very  much  scared  at  our  approach.  We  asked  where  the  man 
of  the  house  was,  and  were  told  that  he  had  gone  off  to  a  funeral. 
We  thought  that  meant  he  was  in  the  secesh  army.  We  quieted 
the  woman  by  telling  them  not  to  get  scared ;  that  we  would  do 
them  no  harm.  We  saw  some  chickens.  We  asked  her  what 
they  were  worth ;  she  said  she  did  not  know.  She  asked  if  the 
Yankees  paid  for  things;  we  told  her  we  would  pay  25  cents 
apiece  for  chickens;  she  said  we  could  have  them  all  at  that. 
We  could  catch  only  four,  and  we  gave  her  a  dollar.  A  Missouri 
State  Bank  dollar  was  then  the  circulating  medium  of  the  coun 
try,  and  good  as  gold.  She  then  said,  being  very  much  relieved, 
that  she  would  cook  us  a  pan  of  hot  biscuit  if  we  would  wait. 
The  dough  was  all  on  the  table  and  there  was  a  fire  on  the  hearth 
and  she  put  the  dough  in  a  Dutch  bake-oven  and  piled  the  coals 
on  top  of  it,  and  we  waited  a  little  while  and  then  she  raked  off  the 
coals  and  pulled  out  a  nice  pan  of  hot  biscuit.  She  said,  "It's 
all  paid  for;  you  paid  more  for  the  chickens  than  they  were 
worth."  We  started  home  to  camp;  we  ate  all  of  the  biscuit 
en  route,  and  delivered  the  chickens  to  the  mess.  In  those  days 
stoves  were  practically  unknown  in  Missouri  farm-houses.  They 
cooked  in  the  fireplaces  with  pots,  kettles,  and  bake-ovens. 
Bake-oven  cooking  had  a  delicious  flavor.  They  would  put  into 
the  bake-oven,  meats  or  food  after  supper  and  cover  with  ashes 


204  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


and  hot  coaly ,  and  it  would  cook  until  morning  and  have  benefits 
of  long  time  and  low  temperature.  It  made  all  the  difference 
in  the  world.  There  was  never  better  cooking  than  this  old- 
fashioned  fireplace  cooking.  We  returned  to  camp  by  a  different 
route  from  that  by  which  we  came.  On  the  road  we  passed  a 
deserted  log  cabin.  Nobody  was  around,  but  all  of  the  belong 
ings  of  the  family  were  there.  On  the  outside  of  the  house  was 
a  big  iron  kettle,  under  which  a  fire  had  been  recently  built.  On 
a  clothesline  hung  a  saddle-blanket,  a  gunny-sack,  a  pair  of  Texas 
spurs,  and  a  pair  of  heavy  jeans  winter  trousers.  I  gently  sep 
arated  the  trousers  from  the  line  and  gave  them  a  solemn  and 
efficient  examination.  They  were  butternut-colored,  home-made 
jeans,  lined  with  heavy  cotton  sheeting  called  "nigger  cloth," 
and  good  for  ten  degrees  below  zero.  The  thermometer  was 
now  about  100  above.  After  communing  with  myself  and  satis 
fying  myself  that  I  ought  to  have  those  pants,  I  threw  them  over 
my  shoulder  and  carried  them  to  camp  along  with  my  share  of  the 
chickens.  It  took  a  good  deal  of  argument  to  convince  myself 
that  I  was  entitled  to  that  pair  of  pants.  But  I  was  partially 
successful ;  it  was  this  way :  The  house  was  evidently  deserted 
on  our  approach.  I  plainly,  by  intuition,  saw  that  the  man  there 
was  getting  ready  to  go  into  the  rebel  army.  The  gunny-sack  w^as 
to  be  his  saddle-blanket ;  the  saddle-blanket  was  to  be  his  sleep 
ing-blanket  ;  the  spurs  were  a  part  of  his  outfit,  and  the  pants 
were  the  best  he  owned  and  had  been  washed  up  in  anticipation 
of  his  departure.  Next,  it  was  the  duty  of  all  American  citizens 
to  do  what  they  could  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  army  dur- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFANTRY.  205 


ing  active  service,  and  to  make  such  sacrifices  as  were  necessary 
to  accomplish  that  purpose.  Thirdly ,  there  could  be  no  more 
worthy  recipient  of  private  charity  than  one  who  was  serving 
the  Government  in  an  effort  to  put  down  the  rebellion  at  eleven 
dollars  per  month.  Fourth,  I  needed  the  pants.  Fifth,  I  was 
defending  the  Constitution  for  him,  the  owner.  I  was  preserving 
for  him  all  that  was  dear  for  him, — life,  liberty,  the  magna 
charta,  the  right  of  habeas  corpus,  and  those  inalienable  and  in 
estimable  rights  which  he  and  his  children  would  enjoy  through 
all  time.  In  this  great  drama  I  was  his  agent  with  power  to  act, 
and  he  must  furnish  the  pants.  Having  fully  satisfied  myself 
upon  this  point,  I  went  to  bed  on  my  blanket,  and  after  looking 
up  into  the  vast  abyss  of  space  and  wondering  if  there  were  any 
other  side  to  it  I  went  to  sleep. 

On  July  14th  there  was  a  bugle-call  at  3  :30,  but  no  orders  to 
march.  We  were  on  the  summit  of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  The 
night  had  been  full  of  dew,  and  toward  morning  chilly.  We 
were  westerly  from  Springfield  about  fifteen  miles ;  there  was  a 
place  not  far  from  us  in  a  south  or  southeast  direction  called 
Little  York.  I  do  not  know  how  near.  We  were  camped  near 
a  little  stream,  but  were  up  on  the  edge  of  a  prairie.  Our  camp 
consisted  of  a  row  of  little  fires  along  the  edge  of  the  brush,  a  row 
of  muskets  standing  stacked,  and  a  company  wagon  without 
much  in  it.  The  stores  and  supplies  which  Lynn  had  ordered 
from  St.  Louis  while  he  was  at  Boonville  had  been  sent  to  Holla, 
but  at  Holla  there  was  no  one  with  sense  enough  to  send  them 
to  us.  Springfield  was  130  miles  by  wagon  from  Holla;  we  were 


206  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

15  miles  further,  and  needed  everything.  We  expected  to  get 
clothing  and  supplies  when  we  neared  Springfield,  but  got  noth 
ing  and  were  worse  off  than  ever.  In  addition  to  this,  every 
thing  was  discontent.  Our  company  got  a  quarter  of  beef,  a 
mess-pan  full  of  salt,  and  two  barrels  of  corn-meal.  We  were 
out  of  coffee,  and  had  mush  three  times  with  boiled  beef.  The 
boys  called  the  place  uCamp  Mush."  Last  night  there  was  some 
picket-firing,  and  we  knew  we  were  in  the  enemy's  country. 
Yesterday  the  Kansas  regiment  caught  up  with  us,  and  in  camp 
one  man  killed  another  in  that  regiment;  he  was  immediately 
court-martialed  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  On  this  afternoon, 
Sunday,  the  14th,  we  were  all  drawn  up  on  three  sides  of  a  hollow 
square  to  see  the  execution.  The  culprit  had  been  taken  out  in 
the  morning  and  compelled  to  dig  his  own  grave.  In  the  after 
noon  we  were  drawn  up  as  stated.  He  sat  on  a  box  by  his  grave. 
Twenty-eight  men  were  detailed  to  shoot  him,  and  stood  about 
twenty  feet  from  him.  The  guns  were  stacked  behind  the  shoot 
ing-squad;  one-half  of  the  guns  were  loaded  with  blank  car 
tridges  and  one-half  with  bullets.  The  men  were  told  this,  and 
each  man  was  given  a  gun,  not  knowing  how  it  was  loaded.  The 
order  was  given,  "Make  ready — take  aim — fire."  The  guns 
went  off  in  a  volley,  the  man  rolled  over  and  struggled  briefly, 
was  pitched  into  the  grave  he  had  dug,  and  was  quickly  covered 
over.  In  a  few  minutes  the  ceremony  was  over  and  we  were 
marched  to  our  quarters  and  disbanded.  There  was  no  regular 
chaplain,  and  up  to  this  time  I  do  not  recollect  that  anybody 
acted  as  chaplain;  I  remember  no  religious  services.  In  fact, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  207 


Sunday  was  generally  our  busy  day.  About  this  time  a  private 
soldier  of  Company  "I"  was  detailed  as  chaplain;  he  laid  on 
style  and  was  respected  accordingly. 

I  took  my  newly  acquired  pants,  and  with  a  needle  and  thread 
started  to  remodel  them.  I  took  some  tar  with  which  they 
" greased"  the  wagons  and  made  a  " wax-end/'  and  I  reefed  the 
trousers  at  the  waist.  They  had  to  be  taken  in  considerably  at 
the  bosom.  I  then  proceeded  to  peel  off  the  outside  portion, 
for  I  wanted  to  wear  only  the  lining.  The  lining  was  whole  and 
durable.  I  shortened  them  four  inches,  and  then  cut  away  the 
jeans  an  inch  from  each  seam  on  each  side  of  the  leg.  Then  I 
snipped  the  jeans  at  the  seam  crosswise  so  as  to  make  an  Indian 
fringe  at  each  seam.  I  cut  away  all  the  outside  except  just  be 
low  the  dorsal  vertebra,  where  I  allowed  it  to  remain  as  a  rein 
forcement.  Then  I  took  it  and  my  shirt,  which  was  again  in 
fested  with  seven  varieties  of  insects,  as  hereinbefore  specifically 
set  forth,  and,  tying  them  up  in  my  big  bandana,  I  boiled  them 
for  two  hours,  and  then  hung  them  out  in  the  presence  of  the 
solar  system  to  dry,  while  Bill  Heustis  beat  me  out  of  a  plug  of 
chewing-tobacco  playing  seven-up,  on  an  ammunition-box. 

The  people  in  the  neighborhood  of  Camp  Mush  seemed  to  be 
very  strongly  Union,  and  a  company  of  Union  cavalry  was 
organized  from  them.  They  were  dressed  in  the  homespun 
garb  of  the  country.  The  women  here  carded  wool  and  cotton 
together  and  spun  it  into  yarn.  Then  they  dyed  the  yarn  with 
walnut  or  butternut  bark;  it  was  all  called  "butternut";  then 
it  was  woven  on  home-made  looms  into  cloth.  The  cloth  was 


208  THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 

then  dyed  again,  and  became  a  reddish  brown.  Only  two 
colors  did  I  see  made:  a  light  indigo  blue  and  the  "butternut." 
This  cloth  was  firm  and  durable.  Any  carpenter  could  make 
a  loom  and  any  woman  could  operate  it.  We  saw  many  looms 
in  operation  during  the  campaign,  arid  in  every  house  were  the 
cards  to  card  the  wool  and  cotton  and  the  wheels  to  spin  them. 
The  war  put  indigo  out  of  the  market,  and  as  the  other  color 
remained  abundant  the  rebel  uniform  for  Missouri  and  Arkansas 
troops  became  "butternut";  hence,  "butternut"  became  a 
synonym  for  disloyalty.  This  spread  so  rapidly  that  soon  the 
Copperheads  up  North  adopted  it ;  they  cross-sliced  butternuts 
and  polished  the  slices,  then  wore  them  as  buttons,  scarf-pins 
and  jewelry.  When  we  got  home  from  this  campaign  (about 
Sept..  1,  1861)  we  went  around  in  squads  and  hunted  for  people 
who  wore  butternuts,  and  took  them  off.  Gangs  of  fellows  in 
the  North  wore  them:  so  many,  sometimes,  that  the  emblems 
could  not  be  by  force  taken  off.  This  seems  incredible  now, 
but  there  have  been  volumes  written  on  the  subject. 

While  in  Camp  Mush  there  was  a  continual  round  of  flying- 
rumors  about  the  enemy :  they  were  represented  as  being  twenty 
thousand  in  number,  and  to  be  near  us  on  the  south  and  west. 
A  great  number  of  people  visited  our  cam])— men,  women,  and 
children;  among  them  were  many  spies.  They  could  not  be 
kept  out.  The  enemy  could  know  every  detail  of  our  numbers 
and  condition. 

I  donned  my  new  pair  of  pants  and  produced  a  sensation. 
They  had  a  very  aboriginal  look.  Bill  Huestis  pronounced 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


me  to  be  "The  Belle  of  the  Mohawk  Vale,"  which  at  that  time 
was  a  new  and  popular  song.  I  did  look  like  an  Arapahoe, 
but  it  was  the  best  that  I  and  the  United  States  of  America 
could  do  at  the  time;  I  was  better  off  than  some  of  the  boys. 
Fletch  Branderbury  wanted  me  to  go  over  to  visit  General 
Sturgis  with  him ;  said  General  Sturgis  was  a  cousin  of  his.  \Ye 
went.  The  General  received  us  with  an  amused  cordiality. 
He  gazed  at  my  attractive  garb;  said  I  looked  like  a  "trapper." 
Then  he  began  a  fervid  outburst  of  profanity  against  the  "d — n 
fools  that  had  charge  of  things  at  Rolla."  He  said  that  our 
privations  were  great,  but  that  we  must  just  do  the  best  we 
could;  that  we  really  didn't  need  anything  but  ammunition, 
and  we  had  a  plenty  of  that.  That  we  could  live  off'  the  country 
until  we  were  reinforced  and  supplies  came.  We  stayed  but 
a  few  minutes;  he  gave  each  of  us  a  drink  of  brandy  out  of  his 
canteen,  and  I  worshipped  him  ever  afterwards  in  spite  of  his 
bad  luck  and  want  of  ability. 

On  July  15th  we  were  called  us  usual.  The  coffee1  was  gone: 
we  had  nothing  but  mush;  it  was  mush  and  water.  The  boys 
joked  about  it,  and  started  cooking  it  in  all  sorts  of  ways.  The 
drinking-water  was  not  exactly  what  we  wanted.  The  water 
in  the  creek  had  got  thoroughly  warm.  The  springs  were  not 
able  to  supply  us,  although  there  were  several  good  ones  around 
in  the  country  at  greater  or  lesser  distances;  but  the  springs 
were  dipped  out  and  the  wells  were  drawn  dry,  and  still  then* 
was  not  half  enough  water.  So  we  had  recourse  to  the  creeks. 
Some  of  the  boys  began  to  get  ill.  Our  team  hauled  a  sick- 


210  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

squad  off  somewhere  to  an  improvised  hospital ;  returning, 
there  was  a  commotion  and  a  run-away  and  our  company  har 
ness  got  disorganized,  and  the  Lieutenant  commanding  came 
to  me  to  fix  it  up.  I  undertook  the  job  as  a  harness-maker, 
but  could  get  neither  needles  nor  thread;  they  were  not  to  be 
had,  but  the  wagon-boss  had  a  tanned  buckskin  of  a  variety 
then  very  common  in  the  country.  The  farmers  all  killed  deer 
and  tanned  the  buckskin  into  leather.  I  got  Tom  Ryan  to  go 
over  to  the  artillery,  where  they  had  a  little  portable  forge, 
and  make  me  an  awl  of  rather  large  size;  this  he  did  from  an 
old  piece  of  file,  which,  with  an  old  pair  of  spectacles  we  found 
among  the  rubbish  of  a  neighboring  farm-house,  made  a  supply 
of  tools.  On  a  tin  plate  I  boiled  some  wagon-tar  into  wax. 
I  cut  the  buckskin  into  a  fine  whang,  waxed  it  with  the  boiled 
tar,  and,  using  one  side  of  the  spectacles,  that  had  a  little  loop 
at  the  end,  as  a  needle,  I  fixed  up  the  harness  in  good  shape, 
so  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Lieutenant  that  I  got  credit 
for  a  round  of  guard  duty. 

In  the  afternoon,  drill-call  was  sounded,  but  we  went  up  and 
told  the  orderly  sergeant,  LTtter,  that  we  did  not  propose  to 
drill  on  mush;  that  we  could  play  seven-up  on  mush  but  could 
not  drill.  Fremont  was  in  command  at  St.  Louis,  but  no  sup 
plies  were  coming  to  us  and  we  were  not  getting  any  mail. 
There  were  no  clothes,  no  food,  no  glory.  We  were  not  hearing 
from  our  girls,  and,  worst  of  all,  our  girls  were  not  hearing  from 
us.  The  boys  began  to  believe  that  WTC  were  neglected  because 
we  were  three-months  men.  We  noticed  that  the  regulars  got 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  211 

things:  they  were  clothed,  better  fed  than  we.  In  fact,  our 
Lieutenant  went  over  to  the  regulars  and  got  a  quarter  of  dressed 
beef.  Our  enlistment  as  a  company  was  April  20th,  and  the 
boys  said :  Our  time  will  be  up  on  Saturday  this  week,  the 
20th.  But  others  of  the  boys  said :  We  are  liable  to  have  a 
fight  now  at  any  time:  who  is  he  who  is  going  to  quit  just  be 
fore  a  battle?  Bill  Fuller  said  he  could  lick  any  two  men  who 
wanted  to  go  home.  After  a  good  deal  of  talking  it  all  at  last 
simmered  down  to  one  proposition,  viz. :  "We  want  to  go  home 
mighty  bad,  but  not  without  a  fight."  Still  there  were  some 
dissenters  who  wanted  to  quit  on  the  20th. 

The  creek-water  and  the  corn-meal  began  to  have  an  effect 
upon  the  men;  painful  diarrheas  and  dysenteries  broke  out. 
Old  Mace  said  he  knew  all  about  this.  He  said  that  they  had 
issues  of  corn-meal  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  that  it  was  all 
right  if  cooked  long  enough;  that  brief  cooking  made  the  men 
sick.  Pie  said,  " There  is  a  verse  I  remembers: 

"Cook  kawn  meal  six  hours 
Or  you  get  the  scours." 

Bill  Huestis  paraphrased  a  bugle-call  thus: 

Come  to  mush ;   come  to  mush  ;   come  to  mush,  you  d — n  fool ; 
Come  to  mush;   come  to  mush;   come  to  mush,  you  d — n  fool. 

Corporal  Churubusco  came  in  at  evening  with  his  hat  full  of 
beautiful  ripe  blackberries;  he  had  been  wandering  around 
and  had  struck  a  patch  of  blackberries,  eaten  all  he  could  and 
brought  back  all  he  could.  We  had  blackberries  and  mush  for 
supper.  I  forgot  to  tell  about  a  new  kind  of  chewing-tobacco 


212  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

that  we  got  this  afternoon.  A  man  came  into  camp  selling  "boot- 
heel"  plug.  It  was  a  very  fine  tobacco,  and  made  without 
machinery.  Around  Springfield  is  a  very  fine  tobacco  country, 
and  the  way  "boot-heel"  plug  was  made  is  as  follows:  The  to 
bacco  was  carefully  selected,  dampened,  and  a  trace  of  molasses 
given  to  each  leaf.  A  two-inch  auger  was  used  in  boring  holes 
into  hickory  or  walnut  logs,  into  which  a  strong,  loose-fitting, 
flat-ended  plug  was  fitted  to  act  as  a  ramrod ;  then  each  leaf 
was  rolled  up  into  a  wad  and  put  into  the  hole,  and  it  was 
pounded  down,  leaf  by  leaf,  with  this  plug  driven  by  a  heavy 
maul.  After  the  hole  was  mauled  nearly  full  a  new  tight  plug 
was  driven  in  to  hold  the  tobacco  down,  and  it  stayed  there 
all  winter  until  needed  for  use.  It  was  chopped  out  with  an 
axe  as  needed.  When  taken  out  it  could  be  broken  up  into 
disks,  whence  its  name  of  "boot-heel."  We  all  liked  "boot- 
heel"  very  much,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw  better. 
Chewing-tobacco  seems  to  be  a  necessity  with  those  who  live 
on  coarse  food,  especially  those  who  live  on  pork.  It  appar 
ently  is  a  germicide  favorable  to  man.  The  tobacco  seems  to 
go  along  with  the  food  that  is  eaten,  and  to  destroy  antagonistic 
germs;  evidently  the  human  system  calls  for  the  help.  Those 
who  live  well  and  have  properly  cooked  food  in  civil  life  do  not 
seem  to  require  the  strong  assistance  of  chewing- tobacco,  and 
only  the  partial  assistance  of  the  much  milder  cigar.  Hence 
man  will  be  civilized  out  of  the  tobacco-chewing  habit,  some 
of  these  days.  He  will  quit  using  tobacco  when  lie  does  not 
need  it. 


CHAPTER  20. 

July  16th. — Syestcr  and  I. — The  Old  Mill. — A  Seccsh  Family. — Half-soling 
Shoes. — Inflammatory  Rheumatism. — Lyon  Disliked. — Fault  with  Fre 
mont, — July  17th. — Typhoid. — Blackberry  Root. — Tribute  from  Dis 
tillery. — Whisky  and  Blackberry. — Recovery. — July  18th. — Very  Short 
Rations. — Growing  Dissatisfaction. — McMullin's  Story. — Loyalty  Among 
Regulars  in  Texas. — General  Banks's  Order. 

July  16th,  Reveille  at  3:30,  as  usual:  Those  were  the  days 
of  early  rising.  Back  in  those  years  there  was  a  fad  about  early 
rising.  "Early  to  rise"  was  the  rule:  my  father  always  rose  at 
4  A.  M.  in  summer  and  5  A.  M.  in  winter.  When  an  obituary  was 
printed  in  the  newspapers  in  those  old  days  the  notice  always 
told  at  what  time  the  deceased  was  in  the  habit  of  rising.  My 
father  always  waked  me  when  he  got  up.  The  people  who  ad 
vocated  only  six  hours  of  sleep  were  very  numerous.  "We 
sleep  too  much/'  was  the  cry.  "A  person  can  get  used  to  six 
hours'  sleep  and  it  is  all  he  wants/7  was  the  statement  of  others. 
It  was  not  a  question  then  so  much  of  the  quantity  of  work  a 
man  did  in  a  day,  as,  "When  does  he  begin?"  lint  then,  every 
generation  has  its  fads. 

We  had  nothing  to-day  for  breakfast  but  mush  and  sassafras 
tea.  Syester  and  I  determined  that  we  would  go  out  and  hunt 
through  the  timber  and  get  a  " razor-back"  hog.  Rules  were 
getting  q.uite  strict;  the  secesh  were  in  large  numbers  within 
twenty-five  miles  of  us:  our  cavalry  were  continually  on  the 

(213) 


214  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


scout  so  as  to  keep  eye  on  them  and  gather  forage  and  cattle. 
As  there  were  no  better  scouts  than  roaming  infantry,  our 
company  was  allowed  five  permits  every  day  to  rove  the  country. 
Syester  and  I  got  permits,  and  started  out.  We  went  about 
three  miles  northwest;  found  an  old  mill,  not  running.  We 
rummaged  around  it.  In 'the  office  I  found  a  worn  volume  of 
Burritt's  Astronomy;  this  was  a  prize.  We  found  a  piece  of 
6-inch  belting;  this  was  also  a  prize.  We  could  half-sole  shoes 
with  it.  Saw  a  house  afar  off,  and  went  there.  We  got  all  the 
bread  and  buttermilk  we  could  eat  for  25  cents  each.  Started 
on  home,  and  found  a  cabin  with  a  cross  old  woman  in  charge. 
She  told  us  that  we  were  the  first  Yankee  soldiers  she  had  seen. 
She  said  that  all  the  people  in  her  neighborhood  were  from 
Tennessee.  She  called  it  Ten-i-cy.  She  had  some  onions  in  a 
little  garden;  we  asked  her  if  she  wanted  to  sell  any  of  them; 
she  said,  yes,  at  25  cents  a  dozen;  we  told  her  that  they  were 
worth  only  5 ;  she  said  she  expected  good  prices  from  Yankees, 
and  gold  and  silver  at  that.  We  asked  her  what  kin  she  had  in 
the  secesh  army,  and  she  said,  "All  I  have — a  husband,  three 
sons,  two  brothers,  two  brothers-in-laws,  and  a  son-in-law,— 
that's  nine,  and  we  will  never  give  up."  We  bade  her  good- 
by,  and  went  toward  camp;  we  never  saw  a  " razor-back"  that 
day.  After  my  return  I  got  the  harness-awl  that  Tom  Ryan 
made,  and  half-soled  my  shoes.  It  was  a  neat  job.  I  got  an 
oak  stick,  then  I  made  an  awl-hole  in  the  leather,  then  I  whittled 
down  the  stick  to  a  point  and  drove  it  in  and  cut  it  off  even 
with  the  hole;  then  made  another  hole,  whittled  the  stick, 


///-S7'(>/iV  ()/•'   THE  FIRST  10\Y A    7.YF.-I.Y  7'A'V. 

drove  it  in  and  out  it  off  again.  It  was  slow  work,  but  it  was 
a  u'ood  job,  and  did  me  excellent  service.  I  turned  the  leather 
bolting  over  to  the  other  boys,  and  it  was  used  up  by  thorn  for 
half-solos.  That  night  1  had  a  funny  experience.  \Ye  were  all 
sleeping  on  tho  ground  as  usual.  YYo  had  boon  tolling  storios 
ax  usual,  and  I  had  fallon  asleep.  \\'o  always  slopt  with  our 
olotlioson.  1  woke  up  with  tho  greatest  pain  in  my  lott  shoul 
der;  it  was  excruciating.  My  shoulder  ached  so  that  1  oould 
not  help  shout inu\  I  novor  had  suoh  an  ache  in  my  lito  boforo 
or  aftor.  1  writhod  around  on  tho  ^rouiul  in  tlu»  ii'ri'ati'st  a^ony. 
A  lot  of  tlu*  nion  i^ot  up  and  oaino  to  mo:  amon^  othors  was 
tho  Fifo-major,  Kilmartin.  Ho  said.  "1  know  what  is  tho  mat- 
tor  with  him  ho  has  i^ot  a  touch  of  inflammatory  rheumatism. 
Ho  a;ot  a  camp-kettle  of  creek-water  and  a  bie:  tin  cup.  and 
stood  up  hia;h  on  a  box  that  we  used  as  a  mess-table;  he  had 
them  take  off  my  shirt  and  hold  mo  down  on  the  ground  and 
he  stood  on  tho  table  a^  hi^h  as  possible  and  raised  the  tin  cup 
of  water  as  hi^h  as  possible,  and  commenced  dripping  it  down 
at  a  height  of  about  ten  foot  onto  my  shoulder.  One  tin- 
cupful  lightened  the  pain,  a  second  one  did  much  more,  a  third 
and  a  fourth  stopped  it.  It  took  only  live  quarts  of  water  to 
entirely  end  tho  pain,  and  1  slept  peacefully  and  soundly  for 
the  balance  of  the  night.  I  never  had  the  same  kind  of  pain 
again  in  all  my  life.  1  never  oould  explain  it.  Kilmartin,  tho 
rife-major,  had  boon  in  tho  Mexican  War,  and  when  made 
Fifo-major  of  the  regiment  wanted  to  bo  conspicuous ;  he  bought 


216  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


my  zouave  jacket  and  red  trousers,  on  which  he  owes  me  ten 
dollars  which  he  lias  never  paid.  His  services  that  night  led 
me  to  never  ask  him  for  it. 

We  began  to  dislike  General  Lyon  very  much.  He  never 
seemed  to  sleep  any,  he  never  smiled,  he  always  appeared  ner 
vous  and  irritated,  and  he  never  had  a  pleasant  word  for  any 
body.  We  made  up  our  minds  that  he  did  not  care  much  for 
us  and  we  did  not  care  much  for  him.  The  report  came  that  we 
had  got  about  all  the  beef  cattle  there  were  in  the  country,  and 
that  mills  at  Springfield  were  grinding  up  all  the  corn  which 
could  be  found  and  brought  in.  All  the  Government  furnished 
us  on  the  16th  was  corn-meal  and  salt.  We  were  told  that  coffee 
and  bacon  were  on  the  way  from  Rolla  to  us.  We  found  all 
kinds  of  fault  with  Fremont  for  not  hurrying  things  up  and  re- 
enforcing  us  with  men  and  supplies. 

On  July  17th  we  arose  at  the  usual  hour  of  early  dawn ; 
my  mush  breakfast  went  back  on  me  and  I  found  that  I 
was  sick.  I  had  a  raging  case  of  diarrhea,  and  wanted  to  drink 
all  the  water  in  the  creek.  It  was  reported  that  two  men  of  the 
regiment  had  died  of  typhoid  fever,  and  I  thought  that  I  might 
have  it.  The  doctor  came  to  see  me  and  told  me  that  I  did  not 
have  typhoid,  but  that  I  needed  some  Dovers  powders,  which  he 
would  send.  I  always  objected  to  medicine,  did  not  know  what 
Dovers  powders  were,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  wasn't  sick, 
anyway.  My  symptoms  increased,  until  at  noon  I  was  in  great 
pain.  Old  Mace  came  to  me  and  told  me  he  knew  exactly  what 
to  do,  and  for  me  to  wait.  He  went  out  with  the  company 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  217 

spade,  hunted  a  blackberry  patch,  dug  up  a  lot  of  the  roots,  came 
in  and  washed  them  clean,  cut  them  up  into  pieces  and  began  to 
simmer  them  on  the  fire.  About  5  r.  M.  I  began  to  drink  this 
bitter  astringent  decoction.  I  knew  what  it  was,  and  hence  it- 
was  not  "medicine."  Medicine  is  something  that  we  don't  know 
what  it  is.  Old  Mace  made  me  about  three  quarts  of  this;  after 
I  had  drank  a  quart,  a  pleasant  circumstance  occurred;  it  was 
this :  Five  men  of  our  company  had  got  leave  in  the4  forenoon 
to  roam  for  the  balance  of  the  day,  and  they  started  to  go  out 
where  nobody  else  had  been.  When  out  about  three  miles  in 
the  timber  they  heard  of  a  whisky-still  running,  about  a  mile 
further  down  in  the  timber.  Corporal  Churubusco  was  in  charge 
of  the  squad.  They  started  quickly  for  the  still;  on  arriving 
there  and  finding  it  in  full  blast  the  corporal  went  up  to  the  still- 
house  door  and  halted  his  squad  and  ordered  them  to  "fix  bayo 
nets";  then  he  demanded  to  know  who  was  in  charge;  when 
the  man  was  pointed  out,  the  corporal  arrested  him  and  ordered 
him  to  march  off  in  front  of  a  fixed  bayonet ;  after  going  a  little 
way  the  still-house  man  wanted  to  have  a  private  talk  with  the 
corporal,  and  on  getting  off  to  one  side  he  started  in  to  bribe  the 
corporal.  The  corporal  allowed  himself  to  be  bribed.  That  was 
what  he  wanted.  He  took  the  man  back  and  left  him  at  the 
still,  but  brought  off  a  demijohn  of  whisky  and  each  canteen  in 
the  party  was  filled.  It  was  at  about  6  r.  M.  that  the  corporal 
came  in  and  turned  me  over  a  canteen  of  whisky,  which,  al 
though  new  and  highly  flavored  with  fusel  oil,  was  very  wel 
come.  I  mixed  one  decoction  with  the  other — blackberry  root 


218  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

and  whisky.  It  had  a  taste  the  like4  of  which  cannot  be  found 
in  any  cook-book  or  pharmacopoeia,  but  I  stayed  with  it,  and  in 
twelve  hours  was  well.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  17th  we  drew 
one-eighth  ration  of  hard-tack,  balance  corn-meal.  I  had  a 
cracker  for  supper. 

During  the  years  before  the  war,  after  the  panic  of  1857,  there1 
was  a  series  of  years  that  were  indeed  "hard  times."  A  song- 
originated  during  those4  days  called  "Hard  Times/'  and  its  re 
frain  ran  like  this : 

"  It's  the  song  <*nd  the  sigh  of  the  weary, 

Hard  times,  hard  times,  come  again  no  more; 
Long  time  have  you  lingered  around  my  cabin  door, 
O  hard  times  come  again  no  more." 

A  man  in  Co.  "C"  named  Fowler  wrote  a  verse  shortly  after 
we  left  Boonville  and  it  was  considerably  sung,  and  finally  ran 
into  many  verses,  on  "Hard  Tack  come  again  no  more."  I 
have  one  only  verse ;  it  ran  as  follows : 

"There's  a  lazy,  hungry  soldier  and  he  lies  around  all  day; 

His  clothes  are  torn,  his  better  days  are  o'er; 
Pie  sighs  for  nice  hot  biscuits,  and  spring  chickens  far  away, 
O  Hard  Tack  come  again  no  more. 

"It's  the  song  and  the  sigh  of  the  weary, 

Hard  tack,  hard  tack,  come  again  no  more; 
Long  time  have  you  lingered  around  the  cook-tent  door, 
O  Hard  Tack  come  again  no  more." 

There  were  lots  of  other  verses  to  it,  but  after  we  had  been 
through  "Camp  Mush"  No.  1  and  had  got  to  "Camp  Mush" 
No.  2,  Mr.  Fowler  changed  the  text  and  got  up  some  new  verses, 
of  which  I  have  retained  only  one,  as  follows : 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  219 

"It's  the  song  and  the  sigh  of  the  hungry, 

Hard  Tack,  Hard  Tack,  come  again  once  more; 
You  were  old  and  very  wormy,  but  you're  pie  beside  that  mush, — • 
O  Hard  Tack,  come  again  once  more." 

In  that  latter  sentiment  we  all  joined,  and  we  sang  it  lustily. 

On  July  18th  we  were  up  at  3:30,  as  usual.  We  drew  a 
quarter  of  fresh  beef,  some  corn-meal,  and  a  mess-pan  full  of 
salt.  I  got  a  piece  of  the  beef  and  roasted  it  over  the  company 
fire  on  the  end  of  my  steel  musket-ramrod.  The  weather  was 
very  hot  and  the  grumbling  over  the  rations  was  very  loud,  but 
it  was  explained  to  us  that  the  rebels  were  all  around  us  and 
that  we  could  not  get  any  supplies  or  assistance  from  St.  Louis 
or  Holla.  There  were  two  roads  from  Rolla  to  Springfield,  one 
called  the  "high"  road  and  the  other  called  the  "low"  road. 
The  "high"  road  was  also  called  the  "ridge  road,"  because  it 
ran  on  ridges;  it  was  the  longer,  had  fewer  good  camping- 
places,  and  was  the  lesser  traveled.  Bands  of  rebels  were  harry 
ing  both  roads.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  feeling  against  Lyon 
on  account  of  the  way  we  were;  fed  and  on  account  of  our  lying 
around,  neither  keeping  our  lines  in  the  rear  open  nor  going  out 
and  having  a  fight.  We  felt  that  we  were  inactively  going  to 
pieces,  as  a  command,  and  that  we  would  soon  all  be  either 
starved  to  death  or  captured.  The  feeling  against  him  was 
growing.  The  boys  wanted  to  fight  and  they  wanted  some 
thing  to  eat;  they  had  no  tents;  they  were  outdoors,  the  sun 
was  very  hot,  and  they  were  hungry.  It  was  always  with  horror 
that  they  afterwards  remembered  "Camp  Mush."  During  this 
day,  18th,  I  went  over  to  the  battery  forge  to  fix  the  hook  on 


220  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


my  gun-sling.  There  were  the  battery  horses  eating  the  same 
food  as  we,  some  of  it  cooked  into  mush  and  some  mixed  up  with 
water  into  a  mash ;  I  was  sorry  that  I  could  not  eat  it  with  the 
relish  that  the  horses  did.  While  at  the  battery  I  got  into  a 
talk  with  an  old  regular  army  soldier  that  was  really  interest 
ing.  The  story  which  he  told  deserves  to  be  perpetuated.  His 
name  was  McMullin,  and  the  story  runs  this  way : 

He  said  that  he  was  in  the  regular  army  in  Texas,  and  that 
during  the  winter  of  1860-61  the  officers  were  all  the  time  talk 
ing  to  the  soldiers  about  joining  the  Confederate  army.  The 
soldiers  were  all  promised  lieutenancies  if  they  would  go  into 
the  rebel  service,  and  more,  too.  They  were  promised  a  dis 
charge,  and  payment  to  date,  and  then  were  to  have  a  commis 
sion,  and  be  sent  immediately  to  the  State  where  commissioned, 
or  were  to  have  a  leave  to  visit  their  friends,  and  then  after  sixty 
days  to  report  to  the  State  where  they  wrere  to  be  commissioned. 
McMillan  said  that  the  boys  talked  it  over  in  the  barracks 
privately,  and  none  of  them  were  anxious,  and  all  felt  like  stay 
ing  with  the  Government ;  but  they  were  all  yet  in  the  United 
States  service.  It  was  rumored  around  that  if  they  did  not 
join  the  Confederacy  they  would  be  surrendered  to  the  Con 
federacy  and  be  confined  as  prisoners  of  war.  McMullin  said 
that  he  made  up  his  mind  that  if  they  were  going  to  play  tricks 
on  the  Government  he  would  play  tricks  on  them,  and  go  to 
fighting  them.  So  lie  pretended  that  he  would  take  a  lieuten 
ancy  in  a  Mississippi  regiment  if  lie  could  get  discharged,  and 
paid  off,  and  given  sixty  days  to  visit  his  good  old  mother  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  221 

north  Missouri.  He  had  no  good  old  mother  in  north  Missouri, 
but  he  got  an  honorable  discharge  and  his  pay  and  a  passport 
through  all  the  rebel  lines  as  being  a  Mississippi  officer,  and  they 
gave  him  a  Government  mule.  He  struck  north  in  search  of 
his  good  old  mother,  and  went  through  the  army  of  Rains,  of 
McCullough,  of  Price,  and  into  the  camp  of  Lyon,  where  he  en 
listed  in  the  artillery  for  three  years  or  during  the  war.  After 
he  had  left  the  Texas  post  where  he  was  stationed,  it  was  sur 
rendered  to  the  Confederates.  The  men  would  not  join.  He 
said  the  men  planned  to  take  their  officers  prisoners  and  all 
march  north,  but  they  were  surrounded  and  were  made  to  sur 
render  afterwards,  though  he  was  not  with  them  then.  He  said 
that  many  other  soldiers  did  as  he  did,  with  the  plan  of  going 
north  and  getting  into  the  army  and  going  back  to  help  punish 
the  treason.  He  had  no  good  to  speak  of  the  officers:  he  said 
that  they  were  all  traitors;  but  in  this  he  was  perhaps  partially 
mistaken.  Long  afterwards,  while  I  was  still  in  the  army,  a 
document  came  out  that  so  well  corroborated  McMullin  that  I 
take  leave  to  give  it  in  full.  It  is  a  wonderful  story  of  loyalty 
and  fortitude : 

"  GENERAL  ORDERS,  )  HEADQUARTERS,   DEPARTMENT   OF 

No.  31.  i  THE  GULF,  19rra  ARMY  CORPS, 

OPELOUSAS,  April  25,  1863. 

"  Sergeants  Brady,  Stapleton,  McCormick,  Renhardt,  Sheble, 
Neal,  Harris,  Darken,  Brannan,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  men  of  the  Eighth  Infantry,  Army  of  the  United  States, 
whose  names  are  affixed,  having  been  exchanged  by  the  rebel 
Government,  whose  prisoners  they  were,  arrived  at  New  Orleans 
on  the  25th  of  February,  1863,  and  a  portion  of  them,  under 


222  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

command  of  Lieutenant  Copley  Amory,  Fourth  Cavalry,  reached 
this  post  on  the  23d  instant,  to  share  with  us  the  honor  of  this 
campaign.  It  has  been  deemed  but  an  act  of  justice  to  these 
gallant  men  to  relieve  them  from  this  service,  and  to  expedite 
their  return  to  the  North.  They  separate  from  the  command 
this  day.  In  honor  of  their  departure,  the  Commanding  General 
has  ordered  a  national  salute,  and  a  similar  honor  will  be  paid 
them  at  their  departure  from  New  Orleans.  Captain  Bain- 
bridge,  at  Opelousas,  and  Brigadier-General  Sherman,  at  New 
Orleans,  are  charged  with  the  execution  of  this  order. 

"  These  troops  were  shamefully  and  unconditionally  sur 
rendered  to  the  rebel  authorities  in  Texas,  by  their  commanders, 
on  the  9th  day  of  May,  1861.  Separated  from  their  officers, 
divided  into  squads,  and  removed  to  different  posts  on  the 
frontiers  of  Texas,  deprived  of  pay  for  more  than  two  years, 
they  were  subjected  to  degrading  labors,  supplied  with  scanty 
food  and  clothing,  and  sometimes  chained  to  the  ground,  or 
made  to  suffer  other  severe  military  punishments.  Recruit 
ing  officers  visited  them  daily,  offering  them  commissions  and 
large  bounties,  to  desert  their  flag.  Notwithstanding  the  false 
reports  of  the  overthrow  of  their  Government,  which  seduced 
so  many  men  of  higher  pretensions  and  position,  unsustained 
by  counsel  with  each  other,  with  few  exceptions  they  repelled 
the  bribes  and  avoided  the  treason.  Those  who  chose  a  differ 
ent  course,  did  it  to  escape  their  prison. 

"No  Government  had  ever  more  loyal  supporters.  Officers 
of  the  army  and  navy,  to  whom  they  had  a  right  to  turn  for 
counsel  and  example,  who  had  been  educated  by  the  Govern 
ment,  who  never  received  a  month's  pay  that  was  not  drawn 
from  its  coffers,  nor  bore  an  honor  that  it  did  not  confer,  at  the 
first  suggestion  of  treason  betrayed  the  mother  that  nursed  them, 
and  deserted  the  flag  that  protected  them.  With  every  branch 
of  the  Government  within  their  control,  and  the  continent  under 
their  feet,  they  yielded  to  the  indecency  and  folly  of  the  re 
bellion,  and  without  a  shadow  of  cause  sought  to  blacken  the 
name  of  America  and  Americans,  by  fastening  upon  them  the 
greatest  crime  of  human  history — that  of  destroying  the  best 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


government  ever  framed,  and  annihilating  the  hopes  of  the 
human  race  in  republican  liberty.  Thank  God!  The  officers 
could  not  corrupt  the  men  they  commanded.  Not  a  soldier  nor 
a  sailor  voluntarily  abandoned  his  post.  The  poisonous  subtle 
ties  of  secession  never  touched  the  hearts  of  the  people,  nor 
led  them  to  substitute;  the  guilty  ambition  of  popular,  vulgar, 
low-bred  provincialism  for  the  hallowed  hopes  of  national 
patriotism. 

" Soldiers!  Let  the  gallant  men  that  part  from  us  to-day  re 
ceive  the  honors  they  deserve!  Let  them  hear  the  peal  of  can 
non,  the  cheers  of  the  line!  Let  them  receive4,  wherever  they 
go,  the  homage  of  the  army  and  navy  together — the  army  and 
navy  forever! 

"By  command  of  Major-General  Banks: 

HICHARD  B.  IRWIX,  Adjutant.'7 


CHAPTER  21. 

July  19th.— Hard  Storm. — Diary  Saved. — Raw  Dough. — Longing  for  Dis 
charge. — Ordered  to  Springfield. — Coffee  and  Corn-meal. — Burritt's 
Astronomy. — My  Constellation. — The  Stars. — Captain  Schofield. — Our 
Chaplain. — July  20th. — Sponge-Cake. — Springfield. — Rolla. — The  Ridge 
Road. — Letters  and  Newspapers. — Money  and  Purchases.— Soap. — 
March  to  James  River. — July  21st. — General  Sweeney.— New  Sort  of 
People. — Ozark. — Load  of  Whisky. — The  Distribution.— Right  Dress. 

On  July  19fch  the  bugle  sounded  at  3:30  A.  M.,  but  no 
body  was  awakened,  because  everybody  was  awake.  At  mid 
night  a  storm  began  that  was  unusual.  The  wind  began  to 
blow,  and  soon  a  cyclonic  gale  was  in  progress.  We  had  no 
tents,  and  we  just  stayed  and  stouted  it  out.  All  the  head 
quarters  tents  were  blown  down  and  away.  Some  of  them 
were  afterwards  recovered  down  in  the  timber.  The  rain  fell 
in  torrents.  It  seemed  to  be  in  ropes  hanging  down.  The 
lightning  struck  around  with  indescribable  noise.  It  cut 
through  the  air  with  a  siz-z-z.  We  smelled  it.  A  piece  of  ar 
tillery  wras  hit.  The  artillery  boys  were  holding  onto  their 
horses  by  the  halters  and  following  them  around  in  their  frantic 
capers.  So  with  the  company  teams.  A  lot  of  the  horses  were 
panic-stricken  and  got  away,  and  made  for  the  tall  timber. 
Wagons  were  blown  over..  We  fixed  bayonets  to  our  guns  and 
stuck  the  bayonets  down  in  the  ground  to  nearly  the  muzzle 
and  let  them  stand  off  a  hundred  feet  from  us ;  this  kept  the  wra- 
ter  out  of  the  barrel  and  did  not  attract  the  lightning.  I  saved 

(224) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  225 

.my  diary  by  turning  a  mess-pan  upside  down  and  putting  my 
diary  with  its  oilcloth  case  on  the  mess-pan,  and  then  turning 
another  mess-pan  down  over  it  and  sitting  on  the  mess-pans. 
When  the  bugle  called  in  the  morning  it  was  pouring  down,  and 
none  of  us  had  slept.  We  were  all  as  wet  as  drowned  rats,  and 
it  kept  on  drizzling.  The  evening  before  we  had  drawn  rations, 
and  all  we  got  was  a  sack  of  flour,  98  pounds,  and  a  quart  of 
salt;  no  meat,  no  coffee,  "no  nothing."  We  had  skinned  all 
the  sassafras  trees  in  the  country,  and  there  was  little  of  that. 
Everything  was  so  wet  we  could  not  make  a  fire  or  get  "break 
fast,"  whatever  that  meant.  The  sack  of  flour  had  not  blown 
away,  but  had  got  wet  and  stained  with  muddy  water.  Our 
mess  got  its  share  and  Old  Mace  made  it  up  into  dough  for  what 
he  called  "salt-rising  bread,"  but  we  could  not  get  a  fire  and 
we  could  not  wait ;  our  mess  ate  the  raw  dough  and  poured 
down  onto  it  a  round  of  still-whisky,  of  which  a  little  was  left 
from  Corporal  Churubusco's  raid.  It  drizzled  off  and  on  the 
whole  forenoon,  and  the  men  just  had  to  stand  up  and  walk 
around.  The  want  of  food,  clothing  and  tents  made  itself  felt 
in  a  longing  to  get  out  of  the  service.  The  enemy  were  camped 
and  reported  to  be  fortified  within  forty  miles  of  us.  They  were 
in  a  friendly  country  and  were  well  fed;  they  outnumbered  us 
several  to  one,  and  we  expected  a  fight.  We  could  not  see  how 
we  could  get  any  glory  out  of  it.  We  did  not  want  to  get  into 
a  fight  unless  we  had  an  even  show,  for  we  did  not  want  to  go 
home  beaten;  and  nothing  but  repulse  was  in  sight.  I  thought 
I  saw  that  all  of  my  fond  anticipations  were  ruined;  we,  I 


226  THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 

thought,  will  go  home  whipped  and  we  can  never  explain  it,— 
better  go  back  to  Holla  and  wait  for  supplies  and  reinforce 
ments.  On  the  morrow  our  term  of  service  expires,  three 
months  from  April  20th.  Suppose  we  do  get  discharged,  then 
how  will  we  get  home? — the  enemy  has  ten  thousand  cavalry. 
We  talked  it  all  over;  they  were  very  unpleasant  forebodings. 
In  the  afternoon  the  sun  came  out  hot  and  dried  us  off;  a  roll- 
call  and  inspection  was  held;  only  four  were  so  sick  that  they 
could  not  come  up  to  the  scratch.  Our  shoes  were  inspected, 
and  nine  of  the  boys  were  found  to  be  about  barefooted,  and 
their  names  were-  taken,  with  list  of  sizes  of  shoes.  We  were 
told  that  we  would  march  in  the  morning  to  Springfield.  This 
occasioned  joy.  "We  will  go  there  and  be  shod  up  and  marched 
home,"  said  one,  "for  to-morrow  our  enlistment  expires."  This 
evening  we  drew  half-rations  of  coffee,  and  double-rations  of 
corn-meal,  for  the  morrow.  The  rebels  had  taken  about  every 
thing  in  the  country ;  they  were  whipping  our  foragers  and  had 
made  up  their  minds  to  starve  us  out  and  take  us  in. 

My  Burritt's  Astronomy  had  got  badly  soaked,  but  I  dried  it 
out  when  the  sun  came  out,  and  I  went  to  studying  the  con 
stellations.  I  had  already  made  up  a  lot  of  them  myself  and 
had  got  a  sky-full  of  geometrical  and  animal  figures  of  my  own. 
Those  who  sleep  out  of  doors  look  up  into  the  sky  and  cannot 
help  forming  constellations.  It  becomes  a  habit  and  a  delight. 
I  had  got  so  charmed  with  the  sky  that  I  liked  to  look  up  into  it 
and  pick  out  the  stars  with  which  I  had  become  familiar.  It 
was  so  with  all  the  boys :  they  each  picked  out  his  own  particu- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  227 


lar  star.  Jim  would  say  to  John,  "My  star  is  the  biggest," 
"No,"  says  John,  " mine  is  bigger  than  your'n,  only  it  is  further 
off."  My  particular  constellation  was  a  cup.  I  found  out 
afterwards  that  it  was  the  Corona  Borealis.  AVo  would  lie  on 
the  ground  at  night  and  look  up  at  the  stars  and  into  the  sky 
for  hours.  AVe  talked  over  how  little  man  was  and  wondered 
if  we  would  ever  know  any  more  about  it.  Burritt's  Astronomy 
was  delightful.  Others  were  as  charmed  as  I  was  and  read  the 
book  with  the  same  pleasure  that  I  did,  and  we  knew  all  of  the 
larger  summer  stars  by  name. 

It  was  on  this  day  that  I  remember  to  have  first  seen  Cap 
tain  Schofield,  the  Adjutant  of  General  Lyon.  Schoheld  was 
a  handsome  young  man,  and  was  full  of  steam,  just  like  Lyon. 
Lyon  was  a  sleepless  man,  and  so  was  Schoheld.  The  latter 
finally  got  in  command  of  the  entire  army  of  the  United  States 
as  Lieu  tenant-General,  and  well  deserved  it.  The  blame  for  not 
getting  provision  down  to  us  from  Rolla  was  said  to  rest  on 
Lieutenant  Phil  Sheridan,  who  was  a  quartermaster.  But 
there  must  have  been  some  mistake  about  this,  for  Sheridan 
never  neglected  anything,  and  became  Lieutenant-General  be 
fore  Schofield. 

This  evening  I  again  saw  the  so-called  Chaplain  of  our  regi 
ment;  he  was  a  ridiculous  figure:  he  was  dressed  as  an  officer 
in  a  nice  uniform  with  a  plug  hat  on  (?)  Think  of  that!  I 
never  knew  of  his  doing  any  duty  whatever:  I  never  heard  him 
preach,  and  in  fact  do  not  remember  of  seeing  him  afterwards 
except  once  at  Forsyth,  under  circumstances  which  I  will  here- 


228  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


inafter  describe.  He  was  really  a  private  soldier  of  Co.  "I," 
as  I  have  before  stated. 

On  July  20th  we  were  up  bright  and  early.  We  were  to 
march  into  Springfield  and  were  to  be,  of  course,  as  we  thought, 
mustered  out,  as  our  term  of  service  had  ended.  We  were  full 
of  happiness,  and  the  sun  rose  with  a  warm  welcome.  Old 
Mace  had  been  up  about  all  night  boiling  corn-meal;  this  he 
stirred  until  cool  and  made  up  into  "pones,"'  a  sort  of  large 
biscuit,  with  a  leaf  of  spicewood  in  each;  this  "spicewood" 
grew  all  around  the  rocky  places  near  camp.  The  pones  were 
placed  in  the  hot  ashes  and  slowly  baked,  and  when  it  came 
time  for  breakfast  Mace  had  them  and  the  coffee  ready.  These 
pones  were  baked  clear  through,  and  we  gnashed  our  teeth  on 
them  as  if  they  had  been  made  of  sandstone.  We  called  them 
"sponge-cakes."  My  memorandums  show,  "A  quart  of  coffee 
and  a  sponge-cake  for  breakfast." 

We  started,  and  marched  to  Springfield,  a  distance  of  about 
fifteen  miles,  by  the  route  we  went.  We  reached  Springfield 
at  about  noon.  Springfield  is  on  the  summit  of  the  Ozarks, 
and  was  at  that  time  a  nice  inland  town, — not  very  large,  but 
doing  a  great  business.  It  had  some  large  wholesale  stores, 
principally  grocery  stores.  Goods  for  Springfield  were  shipped 
from  St.  Louis  up  the  Osage  river  to  Warsaw  during  high  water, 
and  wagoned  south  through  Bolivar,  about  seventy-five  miles 
by  the  road,  to  Springfield;  or  were  shipped  up  the  White 
river  to  Forsyth,  and  wagoned  north  over  the  Ozarks,  by  a 
road  of  about  fifty  miles.  The  two  routes  just  mentioned  were 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  229 


the  old  routes;  in  July,  1801,  goods  mostly  came  by  rail  to 
Holla  and  were  hauled  to  Springfield  by  wagon,  a  distance  of 
130  miles.  The  present  railroad  very  nearly  follows  an  old 
wagon-road,  which  was  called  the  "ridge  road." 

.We  were  marched  into  the  middle  of  the  city  of  Springfield; 
halted,  and  told  to  stack  arms  and  to  reassemble  at  the  call  of 
the  bugle,  and  were  told  that  there  was  a  lot  of  mail  fonts.  I 
got  a  lot  of  letters,  some  of  them  a  month  old,  two  or  three  from 
my  sister  telling  me  all  the  news,  also  letters  from  the  girls  want 
ing  to  know  why  their  former  letters  were  not  answered,  also  a  lot 
of  newspapers  giving  the  news  in  Virginia  and  showing  that  a 
big  battle  was  in  contemplation,  also  two  letters  from  father 
with  a  good  five-dollar  bill  in  each.  I  went  into  a  restaurant 
and  had  all  I  could  oat,  and  1  took  along  two  of  the  good  boys 
who  were  busted  and  had  not  heard  from  home.  I  then  wont 
into  a  confectionery  store  and  drank  all  kinds  of  soda-water, 
while  I  wrote  a  big  letter  home  on  the  white  wrapping-paper 
of  the  store.  I  bought  a  new  pair  of  cool  summer  shoestrings, 
a  new  two-dollar  woolen  shirt,  a  new  cotton  bandana,  and 
some  candy.  I  then  loaned  the  boys  the  balance  of  my  money, 
and  was  now  ready  to  march  to  Rolla,  and  be  mustered  out. 
I  went  into  a  hotel  and  washed  up  and  got  myself  in  shape; 
the  soap  in  the  hotel  was  fragrant  and  very  slippery;  it  slipped 
out  of  my  hands  and  onto  the  floor  and  finally  slipped  into  my 
pocket,  where  I  afterwards  found  it,  much  to  my  satisfaction. 
About  this  time  our  company  wagon  drove  up  and  there  was 
a  bugle-call.  We  "took"  arms,  and  the  command  was,  "For- 


230  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

ward — march."  The  weather  was  hot,  and  we  soon  discovered 
that  we  were  marching  south  and  not  toward  Rolla.  We  kept 
on  marching  until,  after  about  seven  miles,  we  reached  the 
James  fork  of  White  river,  whore  we  all  went  into  camp  and 
soon  all  plunged  into  the  river,  just  below  a  dam  and  a  covered 
bridge.  The  weather  was  hot,  but  the  water  was  cool  and  we 
stayed  in  until  dusk.  Wo  were  all  the  time  wondering  what 
was  up  and  where  we  were  going.  We  were  all  puzzled;  it 
was  evident  we  were  not  going  home.  The  company  wagon  had 
four  days'  rations  of  bacon,  four  of  coffee,  half-rations  of  hard 
tack,  and  a  lot  of  big  wheat  loaves  as  big  as  buckets  and  with 
a  shell  on  as  hard  as  a  turtle.  We  got  supper,  and  before  dark 
a  storm  came  down  from  the  northwest  that  was  cold  and 
chilly.  It  rained  steadily  all  night.  We  got  very  little 
sleep.  We  could  not  cook  breakfast,  but  took  a  snack  of  raw 
pork  and  bread.  We  started  late  in  a  southerly  direction  in 
the  morning;  the  teams  could  hardly  get  through  the  mud. 
We  went  very  slowly,  and  had  to  help  the  teams  and  keep  to 
gether,  for  we  feared  the  rebel  cavalry,  some1  of  whom  we  saw 
in  the  distance.  There  were  only  six  companies  of  our  regi 
ment  on  the  trip,  as  we  found  when  we  got  past  Springfield ; 
the  other  four  companies  stayed  back  for  some  reason  which  I 
never  ascertained ;  was  told  they  were  sent  to  protect  a  mill. 
Our  six  companies  made  about  500  men.  Along  with  us  was 
Captain  Stanley,  of  the  First  Regular  U.  S.  Cavalry.  There 
were  about  200  of  them ;  then  there  was  the  Second  Kansas 
Infantry,  under  Colonel  Robert  B.  Mitchell  (afterwards  Briga- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  231 

dier).  This  Second  Kansas  Regiment  in  coming  through  Mis 
souri  had  captured  some  horses,  so  that  a  part  were1  mounted 
and  called  themselves  ll  Kansas  Rangers."  I  should  say  that 
there  were  a  hundred  of  them ;  then  there  were  four  pieces  of 
artillery  under  Tot  ten;  there  was  also  a  squad  of  Union  natives, 
clad  in  all  sorts  of  clothes  and  armed  with  shotguns  and  rifles 
and  carrying  powderhorns  and  shot-bags.  The  entire4  force 
numbered  1X00,  and  was  under  the  command  of  General 
Sweeney,  the  loyal  Irish  Lieutenant  who  was  with  Lyon  in  the 
beginning  at  St.  Louis.  He  had  one  arm  off,  and  was  a  pic 
turesque  sight  on  a  horse.  He  was  a  typical  Irishman,  full  of 
fun,  strict  in  discipline,  and  with  a  kind  word  for  everybody. 
We  all  liked  him  very  much. 

On  July  21st,  as  stated,  we  started  late  and  trudged  through 
the  mud.  We  were  going  south  and  getting  into  the  breaks 
of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  We  followed  the  main-traveled 
road  used  by  the  teams  in  freighting  goods  from  Forsyth  to 
Springfield  and  in  freighting  furs  and  skins  back.  The  road 
had  then  been  traveled  for  thirty  years,  and  was  well  worn.  The 
people  on  the  line  of  road  were  all  from  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee.  I  had  begun  to  notice  a  change1  in  the  personnel  of  the 
people:  they  were  all  lean,  and  there  were  very  many  of  a  new 
type,  that  is,  black  hair  and  blue  eyes.  At  first  they  seemed 
to  me  to  be  misfits,  for  black  hair  and  blue  eyes  do  not  seem  to 
go  together,  but  they  did  there ;  and  it  finally  grew,  as  we  went 
on,  to  be  the  prevailing  type.  I  found  out  that  men  of  that 
type  were  good  fighters.  They  all  seemed  to  be  from  the  moun- 


232  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

tains  of  East  Kentucky  and  East  Tennessee.  We  also  began 
to  find  very  many  loyal  people,  and  women  and  men  rode  along 
side  of  us  on  horseback  with  little  home-made  American  flags 
in  their  hands.  It  was  explained  that  the  country  into  which 
we  were  coming  was  not  a  slave-owning  population  and  was 
not  in  favor  of  fighting  the  United  States.  It  was  afternoon 
before  we  struck  the  little  straggling  village  of  Ozark;  it  had 
some  good  large  stores.  There  was  a  mill  there  and  we  got  a 
lot  of  flour,  perhaps  two  wagon-loads.  A  man  fearing  our  ap 
proach  was  running  off  a  wagon-load  of  whisky;  he  had  it 
stored  in  town  but  lived  two  or  three  miles  south.  He  was  in 
town  and  heard  of  our  approach,  and  loaded  his  team  to  haul 
it  off,  but  he  loaded  too  heavily  and  he  got  stuck  in  the  mud 
out  on  the  edge  of  town,  and  the  cavalry  got  him  and  made4  him 
haul  his  load  back  into  town.  It  had  rained  all  the  forenoon 
and  was  raining  when  we  went  into  town.  We  took  a  lunch 
of  raw  side-meat  and  crackers.  There  was  a  large  lot  of  boots 
in  the  stores,  and  those  of  our  men  who  really  needed  boots  got 
them.  The  storekeeper  was  a  prominent  secesh,  and  what  we 
wanted  we  took.  Finally  the  bugle  called,  and  we  got  into  line 
and  waited;  the  first  sergeants  were  called  to  the  front  of  the 
long  line;  it  was  about  a  half-mile  long.  Soon  the  first  ser 
geants  came  each  to  his  company  with  something  filled  with 
whisky;  some  had  buckets,  some  had  crocks,  and  some  had 
very  inappropriate  earthen  jars.  Each  sergeant  had  a  half- 
pint  tin  cup,  and  all  along  the  line  at  the  call  of  the  bugle  each 
sergeant  beginning  at  the  head  of  his  company  began  giving 


] 'II STORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IX  FAX  TRY.  233 


each  man  a  half  tin  cup  of  the  whisky;  this  the  soldier  took 
into  his  own  tin  cup  and  drank  at  leisure4.  General  Sweeney 
was  riding  up  and  down  the  line.  As  the  issue  begun  at  the  head 
of  our  company,  the  boys  at  the  other  end  naturally  got  ex 
cited  and  wanted  to  see  the  fun  and  were  anxious  for  flu1  stuff 
to  get  down  their  way.  The  utensil  that  carried  the  whisky 
was  not  large  enough  to  go  more  than  half-way  down  the  line, 
and  by  that  time  the  tail  of  the  company  was  bent  around  like4 
a  fish-hook.  The  orderly  sergeant  went  off  to  refill,  and  while 
he  was  gone  General  Sweeney  rode1  up  in  the  rain  and  shouted 
"Right  dross!"  "Got  back  there,  get  back!"  The  boys, 
taken  somewhat  by  surprise,  were  a  little  slow,  when  the  General 
shouted,  "Right  dress  there,  right  dress!  I'm  pretty  drunk, 
but  I  could  right  dress  if  I  wen1  you."  Back  into  the  line  the 
boys  went,  and  with  the  rain  dripping  down  their  noses  laughed 
at  the  good-natured  general.  Of  course  ho  was  not  drunk,  nor 
partly  drunk,  but  that  was  the  way  he  got  at  it,  and  that  was 
why  the  boys  liked  him.  The  boys  would  do  anything  for  Gen 
eral  Sweeney.  Finally  we  all  got  all  we  wanted,  and  started 
off  singing  the  "Happy  Land  of  Canaan."  Under  the  influ 
ence  of  the  whisky  the  whole4  regiment  got  good-natured  and 
happy,  and  went  into  cam]:)  about  three  and  one-half  miles 
southeast  of  Ozark.  The  rain  was  still  falling,  and  the  regi 
ment  was  wet  and  tired  but  happy. 

Wo  had  seen  some  Confederate  cavalry  south  of  town  who 
disappeared  in  the  brush,  and  it  was  the  bad  luck  of  our  com 
pany  to  be  detailed  on  picket  that  night.  We  went  about  a 


234  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


half-mile  south  to  where  the  roads  forked,  and  established  our 
picket-post.  We  tore  down  fence  and  built  a  good  stout  rail 
pen  so  that  the  rebel  cavalry  could  not  run  over  us,  and  then 
with  our  arms  in  our  embrace  we  tried  to  sleep  alternate  hours 
until  morning.  We  were  ordered  to  make  no  fire  and  no  noise; 
it  rained  and  drizzled  all  night,  so  we  got  but  little  sleep.  We 
had  no  tents  or  shelter. 


CAPT.  THOMAS  W.  SWEENY, 
Second   U.  S.   Infantry,  as  he  appeared  on  the  Forsyth  Campaign. 


THOMAS  W.  SWEENY, 

As  Brigadier-General   U.  S.  A  ,  25  years  after  the  battle  of  Wilson  Creek,  wher« 
he  was  wounded. 


CHAPTER  22. 

July  22d. — The  Cards  Sacrificed. — The  Forests.— Chert. — The  Ozark  Moun 
tains.  —  Wheat.  —  The  Loom.  —  The  Prophecy.  —  Double-quick  Three 
Miles. — Twenty-nine-Mile  March. — Shell  into  Court-Hou.se. — Capture 
of  Forsyth. — On  Guard. — Refugees. — Atrocities. — Union  Sentiment, — 
Union  Territory. — Stone  County. — July  23d. — The  Chaplain. — The 
Bandanas. — Jaynes'  Carminative  Balsam. — Prisoners. — Prison  Pen. 
— Parol. 

On  the  Morning  of  July  22d  at  call  of  bugle  we  went  into 
camp,  and  by  tearing  down  an  old  log  stable  managed  to  get 
enough  dry  wood  to  start  a  good  fire,  and  made  a  quart  of  hot 
coffee  all  around.  My  Burritt's  Astronomy  got  to  be  a  mass 
of  pulp  and  I  had  to  throw  it  away.  I  parted  with  it  sadly. 
The  mess  deck  of  cards  got  wet  and  swelled  up  like  a  bunch  of 
shingles,  and  was  sadly  consigned  to  the  fire  in  the  presence  of 
the  grief-stricken  mess.  General  Sweeney  in  the  morning  said : 
"Boys,  you  have  got  a  hard  day's  march  ahead  of  you  to-day; 
save  your  strength  all  you  can.  You  may  have  a  little  fight 
before  night."  We  then  started  southerly  over  the  chert  hills. 
Missouri,  in  that  part,  must  have  been  at  one  time  covered  with 
a  heavy  limestone  ledge  full  of  flint  nodules.  There  are  places 
in  Kansas  on  high  lands  where  this  vast  limestone  ledge  yet 
remains,  arid  in  the  valleys  the  flints  are  packed  in  the  bottom 
of  the  watercourses.  This  great  ledge  had  been  dissolved  in 
the  portion  of  Missouri  of  which  I  am  speaking,  and  the  hills 
were  covered  with  the  flint,  which  is  there  called  "chert."  In 

this  chert,  on  the  hills,  the  blackjack,  a  species  of  oak,  densely 

(235) 


THE  LYOX  CAMPAIGN. 


grows,  while  in  the  bottoms  are  hue  specimens  of  oak,  walnut 
and  other  woods.  Upon  the  hills  every  once4  in  a  while  we  saw 
a  clump  of  pine,  and  occasionally  we  passed  a  cabin,  where 
were  sheaves  of  the  finest  wheat.  The  artillery  horses  ate  the 
sheaves  of  wheat.  That's  the  way  it  is  in  war — the  artillery 
horse  eats  the  wheat  and  the  women  and  children  go  hungry. 
The  road  finally  turned  down  into  Swan  creek,  an  insignificant 
little  stream  and  not  named  on  the  map,  but  now  a  river;  it 
was  waist-deep,  and  we  waded  it  and  crossed  it  about  every 
half-mile.  We  stopped  at  noon,  and  opposite  our  regiment 
on  the  side-hill  was  a  rude  double  log  cabin.  I  went  over  to  it 
out  of  curiosity,  and  looking  in  I  saw  a  girl  of  about  thirteen, 
weaving  cloth.  She  was  nearly  scared  to  death,  but  I  told  her 
to  go  on;  that  I  wanted  to  see  how  weaving  was  done.  She 
made  the  loom  go  fast.  A  tubful  of  brown-black  walnut  dye 
was  out  on  the  porch.  An  old  woman  was  rocking  backward 
and  forward  as  if  she  were  much  perturbed.  I  asked  her  if 
there  were  many  secesh  round  these  parts.  She  said:  uNo, 
not  so  many  as  you  might  think;  there  are  lots  more  Union 
men  here  than  secesh.  I've  been  reading  the  Bible  right  smart 
all  my  life,  and  I  knowed  there  was  going  to  be  a  war.  It's 
prophesied  in  the  Bible.  And  I've  told  some  of  these  people 
that  if  they  go  to  war  they  will  get  whipped,  because  it's  proph 
esied  in  the  Bible.  The  North  always  whips  the  South  in  the 
Bible,  and,  besides,  this  war  was  foretold  and  the  North  is  to 
whip  the  South."  The  bugle  sounded,  and  I  had  to  go  with 
out  reading  the  prophecy.  I  have  told  this  story  to  many  a 
clergyman  and  asked  for  a  solution,  but  have  never  got  it. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IN  FAX  TRY.  237 

We  went  on  down  the  creek;  we  waded  it  I  guess  twenty 
times,  and  kept  soaked  from  the  waist  down.  Finally  the  road 
turned  to  the  right  and  crept  up  on  the  ridge,  which  was  not 
very  high  nor  steep,  and  our  road  became  a  slight  down  grade. 
Finally  it  was  getting  along  towards  sundown,  and  we  had  gone 
that  day  without  sloop  twenty-six  miles.  All  at  once  General 
Sweeney  dashed  up  and  said:  " Forward  double-quick!  Go  it, 
boys, — don't  stop  'til  you  catch  'em!"  A  double-quick  is  165 
steps  a  minute  and  28  inches  to  the  step,  as  the  drill  then  was. 
For  boys  that  had  not  boon  very  well  fed  and  hadn't  had  much 
sleep  for  some  time,  and  had  marched  twenty-six  miles,  an 
order  for  double-quick  with  our  load  came  unwelcomed,  but 
the  boys  got  in  motion  and  under  headway,  and  began  on  the 
" Happy  Land  of  Canaan."  The  road  was  slightly  down-grade, 
and  at  it  we  wont,  and,  incredible  as  it  may  appear,  we  kept 
it  up  for  throe  miles,  until  we  reached  the  secosh,  a  total  of 
twenty-nine  miles.  General  Sweeney  says  in  his  official  report 
that  we  double-quicked  jour  miles.  The  artillery  horses  were 
crowded  down-hill,  and  the  cavalry  were  pushed  out  to  the 
flanks  as  skirmishers;  we  went  in  yelling.  As  soon  as  a  bend 
in  the  road  brought  the  town  in  sight  one  of  the  six-pounders 
unlimbered  and  drew  a  bead  on  the  brick  county  court-house. 
Our  company  was  at  the  head  of  the  regiment,  and  just  as  our 
company  caught  up  with  the  artillery  the  gun  went  off.  I 
watched  the  shell;  it  made  a  beautiful  hit;  it  was  aimed  at 
the  floor  of  the  second  story  so  that  it  would  rip  up  the  joists 
of  the  floor  and  then  explode.  It  went  just  where  it  was  in- 


238  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


tended.  It  appeared  that  there  was  a  big,  well-advertised 
secession  convention  in  town,  and  Lyon  thought  he  could  break 
it  up  and  capture  a  lot  of  prominent  secessionists  and  get  away 
unhurt  from  the  swarm  of  rebel  cavalry  which  was  west  of 
Forsyth.  We  went  rushing  into  town;  there  was  some  shoot 
ing — not  much.  One  of  our  men  was  killed,  12  of  the  secesh 
were  killed.  We  had  some  horses  killed,  and  Captain  Stan 
ley  of  the  First  Cavalry  had  a  horse  killed  under  him.  Every 
body  in  town  fled;  we  saw  hundreds  of  horsemen  take  to  the 
river  and  swim  over  with  their  horses.  We  got  a  lot  of  horses 
that  the  owners  did  not  have  time  to  unhitch.  Forsyth  was 
surrounded  with  high,  wooded  hills ;  the  scattered  Confederates 
fleeing  got  up  into  the  hills  and,  knowing  that  we  could  not  get 
them,  fired  furtively  all  night.  The  whole  thing  was  over  in 
thirty  minutes  in  town.  The  burden  of  pursuit  was  on  the 
cavalry.  We  went  into  camp  about  eight  P.  M.  and  began  to 
cook  supper.  We  had  captured  some  fresh  beef  and  we  had  a 
good  square  supper.  I  ate  about  four  pounds  of  beef.  At 
about  nine  o'clock  I  had  rolled  up  and  was  about  to  go  to  sleep 
when  the  orderly  sergeant  came  to  me  and  said  it  was  my  turn 
for  guard  duty.  This  announcement  almost  gave  me  heart- 
failure,  for  I  was  about  as  tired  as  a  boy  could  be  and  yet  stay 
alive,  which  I  was  trying  my  best  to  do.  I  reported  for  duty 
and  was  put  on  the  exterior  camp  guard.  Each  regiment  had 
a  line  of  guards  around  it,  and  there  was  placed  a  second  line 
at  some  little  distance  around  the  whole  carnp,  and  then  pickets 
outside  of  that;  I  was  on  the  middle  line.  I  had  to  go  on  for 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  239 

three  hours.  A  lot  of  people  had  joined  us;  we  had  at  least 
200  refugees  now  with  us.  Several  came  in  at  Forsyth.  They 
offered  to  go  on  duty.  I  picked  out  four  to  go  with  me.  They 
were  all  armed  with  squirrel  rifles.  They  were  all  bright,  sturdy- 
looking  fellows  of  middle  age.  It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight 
night.  We  walked  around  and  talked,  and  covered  our  terri 
tory  well.  They  told  me  strange  and  diabolical  stories  of  the 
outrages  being  perpetrated  on  the  Union  men  across  the  line  in 
Arkansas.  They  kept  me  shuddering  until  my  relief  came. 
It  seemed  that  in  the  country  immediately  around  Forsyth  the 
secession  sentiment  was  very  strong  and  bitter,  and  from  there 
east  and  south ;  but  west  of  there,  along  the  James  river,  called 
"Jeems's  Fork  of  White  river,"  the  Union  sentiment  was  very 
strong;  and  there  was  an  armed  Union  organization  in  that 
part  embracing  what  is  now  the  west  part  of  Taney,  the  east 
part  of  Barry  and  all  of  Stone  county,  to  fight  and  keep  the 
rebels  out  of  their  territory.  The  said  territory  was  moun 
tainous,  and  some  of  the  home-guards  who  were  with  us  at  For 
syth  had  joined  us  en  route  from  there.  Stone  county  seems 
to  have  been  almost  unanimously  loyal.  In  fact,  it  seemed  to 
us  that  the  further  north  one  went  in  Missouri  the  more  dis 
loyal  the  communities  became,  and  that  while  atrocities  were 
everywhere  in  progress,  the  middle  and  northern  half  were  the 
worst.  This  because  most  of  the  slaves  were  north  of  the  cen 
ter  of  the  State. 

Our  regiment  was  encamped  about  a  half-mile    from   For 
syth,  on  Swan  creek.     When  my  time  on  guard  was  up  I  went 


240  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


to  camp  and  lay  down  on  some  grass  near  a  tree  at  about  12, 
midnight,  and  went  to  sleep,  courting  rheumatism. 

On  July  twenty-third  I  was  awakened  about  8  A.  M.  I  heard 
that  the  boys  had  taken  what  there  was  in  the  town,  which  was 
not  much;  I  ate1  my  breakfast  and  drank  a  quart  of  hot,  strong 
coffee,  and  determined  to  go  down-town  and  see  if  the  boys  had 
left  anything  that  was  loose.  As  I  got  right  into  the  edge1  of 
town  I  met  the  Chaplain  with  his  uniform  on  buttoned  up  to 
the  chin,  with  his  plug  hat  on,  well  corrugated;  he  was  riding 
a  lean  sorrel  horse  with  a  rope  headstall  and  rope  reins.  He 
was  reeling  up,  clothes-line  style,  hand-and-elbow  movement, 
a  bolt  of  silk  bandana  handkerchiefs,  woven  in  one  piece, 
probably  sixty  feet  long.  They  were1  thirty  inches  square, 
and  he  was  dragging  the  piece  and  walking  his  horse  slowly 
while  winding  it  up.  I  asked  him  where1  he  got  them,  and  if 
there  were  any  more.  He  seemed  puzzled  to  explain.  He  said 
one  of  the  boys  gave  it  to  him ;  that  he  did  not  know  whether 
he  ought  to  take  it  or  not ;  that  he  hated  to  see  it  wasted ;  and 
wound  up  by  telling  me  that  I  could  cut  a  handkerchief  off 
from  the  end.  I  proceeded  to  do  this  with  alacrity,  but  owing 
to  my  haste  and  the  wobbling  of  my  knife  I  cut  off  two  handker 
chiefs  in  one  piece;  thanked  him,  and  rushed  into  town.  I  was 
much  too  late.  Everything  worth  taking  was  gone.  There 
had  been  a  large  depot  of  rebel  hats,  socks,  woolen  shirts,  boots, 
cloth,  and  some  blouses  and  pants.  These  were  all  turned 
over  to  the  home-guards  except  such  as  our  boys  got  first  and 
needed.  There  was  also  a  lot  of  sugar  and  molasses,  also  lead, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFANTRY.  241 


salt,  mule-  and  horseshoes.  Altogether  then4  was  quite  a  large 
and  valuable  lot  of  military  supplies.  I  was  favored  with  a 
canteen  of  molasses,  but  everything  else  seemed  gone  or  in  the 
hands  of  the  quartermaster.  I  went  into  the  drug  store,  which 
was  standing  open  and  had  been  previously  visited  and  examined. 
I  looked  around  for  something  to  carry  off;  everything  that  a 
man  in  good  health  would  want  was  taken  ;  but  there1  was  a 
very  ornamental  box  labeled  'Maynes'  Carminative  Balsam." 
It  had  half  a  dozen  pint  bottles  that  cured  everything  that  I 
did  not  have.  The  printing  was  decorative  and  ornamental. 
There  was  nothing  else  that  1  could  get.  The  box  said  "TAKK" 
Jaynes'  Carminative  Balsam.  I  looked  around,  and  went  back 
to  camp  with  my  gun  at  "right-shoulder-shift"  and  the  box  of 
Carminative  Balsam  under  my  arm.  I  regretted  that  I  could 
not  find  a  red-hot  stove  to  carry  off,  and  I  took  the  "Balsam" 
by  special  invitation  of  the  label.  1  never  remember  of  seeing  the 
Chaplain  afterwards.  When  I  got  to  cam])  and  began  reading 
the  labels  on  the  box  I  found  that  it  cured  many  things,  and  1 
began  to  think  that  perhaps  1  had  some1  of  the  things  that  it 
would  cure.  So  I  opened  it  and  tasted  it,  but  it  was  not  good; 
it  tasted  like  medicine.  My  feet  were  troubling  me  a  little; 
the  29-mile  march  of  the  day  before  had  worn  the  white,  dense, 
indurated  porcelain  cuticle1  through  in  places  where1  wrinkles 
of  the  shoes  impinged.  The  epidermis  had  holes  in.  The  "Car 
minative1"  was  on  the1  bottle  advertised  as  something  that  could 
be  used  internally  or  externally,  and  it  was,  among  other  things, 
an  "Anti-spasmodic"  and  it  also  cured  "Afflictions  of  the1  skin." 


242  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


I  concluded  after  much  thought  that  I  did  not  wish  to  have 
any  spasms,  and  that  my  skin  inside  of  my  shoes  was  "afflicted" 
within  the  meaning  of  the  advertisement,  and  so  I  poured  a 
bottle  into  each  of  my  shoes;  it  smarted  and  stung  so  much 
that  I  had  to  get  up  and  walk  around  so  as  to  lessen  the  pain, 
but  it  turned  out  all  right,  and  benefitted  mo  greatly. 

At  10  A.  M.  we  started  back.  By  the  time  we  started  our 
Union  friends  in  butternut  clothes  had  increased  to  several 
hundred,  and  they  were  going  back  with  us  to  Springfield ;  we 
also  had  about  100  prisoners,  some  of  whom  had  been  taken 
in  the  town  or  brought  in  by  cavalry,  or  who  had  come  in  as 
voluntary  spies  and  been  identified  by  Union  men  who  were 
with  us,  and  arrested.  The  day  and  the  weather  were  beautiful. 
We  marched  only  fourteen  miles;  a  fourteen-mile  march  was 
nothing — it  was  only  gentle  exercise.  We  got  into  camp  about 
6  P.  M.  When  we  camped  the  prisoners  were  taken  up  to  a  high 
rail  fence  and  ordered  to  tear  it  down  and  to  build  a  rail  pen, 
stake-and-rider  fashion,  around  themselves.  It  was  a  high  cir 
cular  fence,  about  fifty  feet  across.  When  built,  the  prisoners 
were  all  ordered  in,  and  it  was  easy  to  guard  them.  They  made 
a  fire  on  the  inside  and  were  furnished  beef  and  corn-meal.  I 
may  say  here,  that  after  we  got  to  Springfield  these  prisoners 
were1  all  paroled  and  sworn  not  to  take1  up  arms  against  the 
United  States  Government,  which  parole  they  afterwards  vio 
lated,  as  being  a  contract  made4  under  duress  and  not  binding 
on  their  consciences.  The  only  punishment  for  its  violation 
was  death.  It  was  very  hard  to  get  them  afterwards  and  ad 
minister  the  punishment. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  243 


A  funny  discussion  took  place  in  the  prison-rail-pen,  which 
illustrates  the  condition  of  the  weapons  of  that  day.  These 
secesh  were  a  talkative  lot ;  and  the  discussion  was  concerning 
the  relative  value,  as  a  weapon,  of  a  revolver  and  a  bowie- 
knife;  they  went  into  it  pro  and  con.  One  set  showed  how 
the  revolver  might  not  work,  how  it  might  not  revolve,  then 
how  the  cap  might  not  go  off,  (in  those  days  percussion  caps 
were  sometimes  uncertain,)  then  how  the  revolver  might  not 
"prime,"  then  how  it  might  "flash  in  the  pan/'— and  so  on. 
One  man  was  whittling  a  splinter  from  a  walnut  rail  and  from 
it  made  a  bowie-knife ;  he  shouted  to  one  of  the  adorers  of  the 
revolver,  "Ready  for  me?"  and  rushed  at  him  with  the  wooden 
bowie-knife,  and  they  had  a  scuffle  from  which  the  bowie-knife 
man  exultantly  emerged,  saying,  "See  that;  I  could  have  cut 
him  all  up  before  he  could  have  worked  his  pistol  on  me." 
This  sentiment  explains  the  wonderful  prominence  that  the 
bowie-knife  had  in  that  "good  old  age."  It  was  considered 
a  reliable  and  indispensable  weapon. 

I  talked  to  many  of  these  prisoners,  and  they  seemed  to  have 
emigrated  mostly  from  Georgia  and  South  Carolina. 


CHAPTER  23. 

July  24th. — Return  to  Springfield. — Order  of  March.— Rebel  Cavalry. — 
Shoes  and  Moccasins. — Beautiful  Country. — The  Forests  and  Streams. 
Roasting-ears. — Scientific  Corn-cooking. — July  25th. — Return  to  Jeems's 
Fork. — Hot  Weather. — Arrive  at  Springfield.— Mail  and  Money. — Bull 
Run. — General  Scott. — Fuss  and  Feathers. — Fremont. — Benton. — Fight 
or  Discharge. — Soda-water,  Pie  and  Candy. — Dress  Parade. — Lyon's 
General  Order. — Brigade  Organization. — Schofield's  Published  Letter. — 
Corpular  Mace. 

On  July  24th  we  were  up  at  3:30,  as  usual.  Corporal  Churu- 
busco  said :  "Six  hours  of  sleep  for  a  man,  seven  for  a  woman, 
and  eight  for  a  fool."  Bill  of  fare  for  breakfast:  coffee,  beef, 
and  hard-tack.  Camp-rumor  said  we  were  surrounded,  and 
might  bo  cut  off  from  Springfield.  In  the  light  of  subsequent 
events  I  do  not  see  why  we  were  permitted  by  the  rebels  to 
return.  We  did  not  fully  realize  the  danger  we  were  in.  We 
marched  back  slowly  because  we  had  to  march  slowly.  A  lot 
of  Confederate  cavalry  and  guerrillas  kept  hanging  on  our  rear. 
Our  march  was  something  like  this:  An  advance  company  of 
cavalry,  with  a  flank  patrol.  These  men  being  deployed  out 
at  an  interval  of  twenty  yards  each,  kept  us  from  falling  into 
ambush.  Back  nearly  half  a  mile  wen1  about  500  infantry  as 
an  advance  guard  for  the  cavalry  to  rally  on  in  case1  of  emer 
gency;  back  of  these  was  the  artillery,  flanked  on  each  side  by 
a  company  of  infantry  to  repel  a  dash  of  rebel  cavalry.  Back 
of  these  came  the  wagon-train  with  a  flank  patrol  of  cavalry,  and 
a  detail  of  eight  men  to  each  wagon  as  a  wagon-guard.  The 

wagons  were   kept   solidly   together  and   hence  moved  slowly. 

(244) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  245 


Back  of  the  train,  close-  up,  came  the  main  body,  and  back  of 
them  200  yards  were  twenty  infantry  and  two  cavalrymen.  The 
rebels  rode  all  around  us  all  day ;  they  fired  at  us  from  long 
range;  they  kept  right  up  with  our  roar  guard,  and  we  expected 
they  would  give  us  what  was  called  ''the  running  bulge/' — dash 
through  us  and  wreck  our  train  and  stampede  the  horses  and 
mules.  Bill  Huestis  said:  "I  wish  1  was  home.  Why  didn't 
1  send  my  big  brother?" 

We  marched  this  day  only  fifteen  miles ;  it  had  got  so  that  we 
did  not  consider  fifteen  miles  as  a  full  day's  work,  but  this  day 
was  over  the  breaks  of  the  Ozarks ;  the  ground  was  very  broken 
and  the  soil  and  road  rocky  and  cherty.  Lots  of  the  boys  were 
suffering  for  want  of  good  shoes,  as  the  roads  had  cut  out  the 
soles.  Several  of  the  boys  had  thrown  away  their  shoes  and 
made  moccasins  out  of  deerskins.  A  pair  of  moccasins  could 
be  made  in  thirty  minutes.  Several  tied  gunny-sacking  over 
their  soleless  shoes.  No  one  really  suffered;  everybody  took 
things  good-naturedly;  the  boys  were  resourceful,  and  did  not 
have  to  suffer.  If  our  boys  had  been  at  Valley  Forge  there 
would  have  been  no  blood  on  the  snow. 

The  country  through  which  we  marched,  while  rough  and 
flinty,  was  nevertheless  a  most  beautiful  country;  the  hills 
and  groves  were  captivating,  but  above  all,  the  springs  and 
streams:  they  had  a  crystalline  flash  and  beauty  that  enchanted 
us.  It  had  stopped  raining,  the  roads  were  no  longer  muddy, 
and  the  streams  were  no  longer  discolored.  They  were  running 
with  water  as  pellucid  as  air  and  sunlight.  The  trees  were  not 


246  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

in  dense  thickets,  as  they  become  in  an  old  country;  the  forest 
fires  swept  the  country  every  fall  or  spring  and  burned  out  the 
masses  of  fallen  leaves,  and  destroyed  the  underbrush.  The 
woods  were  more  like  groves  or  parks;  the  fires  kept  them 
thinned  out,  and  one  could  see  anywhere  a  deer  if  within  1.00 
yards.  The  trees  were  often  very  gnarly,  owing  to  the  experi 
ence  through  which  they  had  to  grow,  but  it  made  the  forests 
beautiful,  and  all  among  the  trees  the  grass  grew  in  wild  luxuri 
ance.  The  march  of  July  24th,  although  the  weather  was  warm, 
was  the  most  enchanting  and  enjoyable  of  any  in  the  campaign, 
in  spite  of  the  situation  and  dangers,  and  we  often  referred  to  it 
in  our  conversations  afterwards. 

We  camped  in  the  evening  at  the  same  place  where  we  camped 
in  going  down — three  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  Ozark 
City.  Our  company  did  not  intend  to  go  into  camp  on  arrival, 
but  were  temporarily  detailed,  and  marched  off  to  one  side  as 
a  picket-post  until  the  regular  details  could  be  made.  Near 
this  post,  about  half  a  mile  west  of  camp,  was  a  log  cabin  in  a 
clearing  and  some  early  corn,  and  we  got  a  lot  of  roasting-ears 
which  we  took  back  into  camp  when  we  were  relieved,  which 
was  about  sundowrn.  How  to  cook  these  roasting- ears  was  a 
problem  which  Old  Mace  soon  solved  by  burying  them  in 
the  ashes  of  the  big  camp-fire  and  putting  some  wood  over 
them  and  making  the  fire  stronger.  From  time  to  time  Old 
Mace  raked  out  the  corn  and  threw  some  of  it  back  in  again 
and  buried  it.  It  was  cooked  deliciously  and  withal  scientifi 
cally;  it  was  boiled  in  its  own  juice;  the  moisture  in  the  green 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  247 

husks  boiled  the  corn,  and  by  the  time  the  husks  were  dried 
up  in  the  fire,  and  burned  off,  the  ear  was  cooked.  I  have  often 
wondered  since  why  we  boil  the  corn,  in  our  modern  system  of 
cooking,  and  boil  the  good  and  fragrant  part  out  of  it  and  waste 
it  instead  of  boiling  the  corn-juice  into  it.  After  this  we  often 
put  the  corn  with  husk  into  the  ashes  in  the  evening  and  let 
it  slowly  boil  itself  all  night,  so  as  to  have  it  for  breakfast  in  the 
morning. 

Our  pickets  were  fired  on  considerably  during  the  night,  but 
no  damage  was  done  and  we  slept  soundly  until  reveille. 

On  July  25th  we  were  up  at  o  :o()  and  started  at  sunrise.  We 
marched  by  the  same  road  that  we  came  down  on,  to  the  bridge 
and  dam  on  '  \Jeems\s  Fork  of  White  river,"  where  we  all  went 
in  swimming  on  the  Saturday  before  (20th),  and  where  we  had 
the  cold  storm.  We  halted  here  to  let  the  teams  rest  and  then 
to  let  them  pull  out  ahead,  while  we  went  in  swimming  and  took 
a  lunch.  One  of  the  boys  here  took  in  a  "razor-back"  that 
happened  to  incautiously  approach  the  edge  of  the  timber  and 
survey  the  camp;  we  toasted  him  in  pieces  on  the  ends  of  our 
steel  ramrods.  We  resumed  our  march  feeling  very  blithe  and 
gay,  although  the  heat  in  the  afternoon  was  soaring  up  to  100 
degrees.  We  marched  into  Springfield  and  had  a  halt,  and  a 
large  quantity  of  mail  was  delivered  to  us.  It  was  all  old  and 
of  various  dates,  showing  that  it  had  traveled  around  and  been 
held  up  until  it  could  be  forced  through  to  us;  among  others 
was  a  letter  from  my  sister,  mailed  June  19th,  more  than  a 
month  before;  but  I  was  glad  to  get  it.  There  was  also  a  five- 


248  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


dollar  bill  for  me,  and  I  was  glad  to  get  it.  We  also  got  some 
newspapers,  and  heard  for  the  first  time  of  the  battle  of  "Bull 
Run."  That  battle  very  much  discouraged  us.  We  felt  that 
the  South  had  not  only  the  best  arms  and  equipments,  and  had 
been  drilling  longer,  and  were  more  prepared,  but  had  in  addi 
tion  to  all  that  the  best,  most  active  and  most  effective  officers, 
having  had  the  choice  of  the  old  regular  army.  Besides  that, 
there  was  no  confidence  in  Lieutenant-General  Scott ;  he  had  got 
the  name  of  "Old  Fuss  and  Feathers,"  and  the  ridicule  seemed 
to  be  deserved.  On  the  other  hand,  General  Fremont  had  been 
in  command  of  our  department  at  St.  Louis  since  July  9th, 
and  we  had  not  been  supplied  with  either  clothes,  food,  or  re 
inforcements.  If  there  ever  was  an  empty,  spread-eagle,  show- 
off,  horn-tooting  general,  it  was  Fremont.  I  have  no  time 
here  to  go  into  the  story  of  his  eccentricities  and  follies,  but  we 
all  despised  him  forever  and  forever  more.  He  had  no  abili 
ties  of  any  kind.  He  married  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  greatest 
men  (Senator  Benton)  that  ever  graced  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  other  Senate.  The  daughter  was  a  great  woman 
herself;  she  and  her  father  tried  to  make  something  out  of  him, 
spent  money  advertising  him,  and  ran  a  literary  bureau  in  puff 
ing  him  and  exploiting  his  alleged  talents.  They  got  Fremont 
ambitious  details,  and  gave  him  chances  for  great  deeds,  braced 
him  up  with  good  advice1,  and  gave  him  the  advantage  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  judicious  guidance.  He  was  weak  and 
vain,  and  with  a  heavy  touch  of  what  "Orpheus  C.  Kerr" 
called  the  "damphool."  If  he  had  been  elected  President  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  249 

1856,  things  would  have  gone  greatly  different;  the  South  was 
ready  for  war;  they  would  have  seceded;  Fremont  would  have 
been  wholly  incompetent ;  the  North  defeated,  and  the  Union 
broken  up. 

Lincoln  seemed  to  be  having  at  this  time  much  trouble.  He 
was  caricatured  and  abused.  Ho  had  begun  raising  a  beard, 
and  it  was  much  ridiculed.  All  of  the  politicians  seemed  to  bo 
trying  to  make  his  job  a  hard  one.  Lincoln  in  whiskers  looked 
more  ''ugly'1  than  ever.  They  seemed  to  make1  him  look  silly; 
and  in  the  coarse  engravings  of  the  times  he  appeared  unpre 
possessing.  He  was  smooth-shaven  before  election  and  during 
his  contest  with  Douglas.  There  was  a  virility  about  his  un 
shaven  face  which  attracted  attention.  It  set  a  man  to  guess 
ing.  It  had  no  curves  of  beauty;  it  was  unusual ;  it  was  coarse  ; 
it  had  no  lines  of  weakness,  and  it  demanded  attention.  An 
observer  instinctively  said  to  himself:  i(I  wonder  what  kind 
of  a  man  it  is  behind  that  kind  of  a  face?''  Whiskers  changed 
this:  he  was  as  much  concealed  by  them  as  if  he  wore  a  mask. 
He  could  not  have*  been  nominated  for  the  presidency  if  he 
had  worn  whiskers.  Ridicule  made  the  most  of  this,  and  Lin 
coln  now  looked  weak  and  unattractive.  As  the  mails  brought 
us  the  illustrated  literature  of  the  day  and  we  looked  at  Lin 
coln's  recent  pictures  we  made  all  sorts  of  comments,  among  the 
mildest  of  which  were  "0,  rats!" 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run,  together  with  our  treatment  by  Fre 
mont,  was  the  occasion  of  our  discussing  considerably  whether 
we  wen*  going  to  be  mustered  out  or  not.  Wo  felt  that  we  were 


250  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

being  neglected  and  ill-treated,  and  that  our  services  to  the 
Government  were  of  no  value  and  that  it  would  end  in  our  dis 
grace  ;  we  did  not  want  to  go  homo  whipped.  The  more  we 
talked  about  this  thing  the  more  earnest  we  got.  Our  timo  had 
been  out  July  20th.  We  demanded  now  that  we  either  have  a 
fight  or  a  discharge.  We  wanted  both,  and  that  became  the 
fooling  and  sentiment  of  the  regiment,  " A  fight  or  a  discharge" 

In  Springfield  I  took  my  five-dollar  bill  and  filled  myself  and 
Corporal  Bill  up  on  soda-water,  pie,  and  candy.  I  bought  four 
sheets  of  assorted  emery-paper  for  ten  cents,  concerning  which 
I  will  say  more  hereafter.  I  wrote  a  lot  of  letters  home  and  to 
various  persons,  but  the  letters  never,  any  of  them,  reached 
their  destination. 

We  encamped  southwest  of  town  and  had  a  dress  parade,  for 
the  first  time  for  a  long  while.  We1  were  the  raggedost,  toughest- 
looking  lot  of  soldiers  ever  seen,  but  we  could  drill  all  right,  and 
could  form  as  straight  a  line,  and  go  through  the  "Manual  of 
Arms"  as  well  as  the  best  dressed  soldiers  in  the  world.  At  dress 
parade  one  of  General  Lyon's  general  orders  was  read,  as  follows  : 

SPRINGFIELD,  Mo.,  July  24,  1861. 

The  following  brigade  organizations  will  take  effect  from  this 
date: 

FIRST    BRIGADE. 

Major  S.  D.  Sturgis,  First  U.  S.  Cav.,  commanding,  will  con 
sist  of— 

Companies  "B,"  "C,"  "D,"  and  "I,"  First  U.  S.  Cavalry. 

Company  "C,"  Second  U.  S.  Dragoons. 

Light  Co.  "F,"  Second  U.  S.  Artillery. 

Companies  "B,"  UC,"  and  "D,"  First  U.  S.  Infantry. 

Lieut.  H.  C.  Wood's  company  of  recruits. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  251 

SECOND    BRIGADE. 

Colonel  Sigel,  Missouri  Volunteers,  commanding,  will  consist 
of- 

Third  Regiment  of  Missouri  Infantry  Vols. 
Fifth  Regiment  of  Missouri  Infantry  Vols. 
Major  Backof  s  battalion  of  Artillery  Vols. 

THIRD    BRIGADE. 

Lieut.  Col.  G.  L.  Andrews,  of  First  Mo.  Vol.  Inf.,  commanding, 
will  consist  of— 

First  Regiment  of  Missouri  Infantry  Vols. 

Companies  "B"  and  "E,"  Second  V.  S.  Infantry. 

Lieut.  \V.  L.  Lothrop's  company  of  recruits. 

Lieut.  C.  E.  Farrand's  company  of  recruits. 

Lieut.  John  V.  DuBois'  Light  Battery  U.  S. 

Major  Osterhaus'  battalion,  Second  Mo.  Infantry  Vols. 

FOURTH    BRIGADE. 

Colonel  George  W.  Deitzler,  First  Kans.  Inf.,  commanding,  to 
consist  of— 

First  Kansas  Infantry  Vols. 
Second  Kansas  Infantry  Vols. 

This  order  was  signed  by  J.  M.  Schofield  as  Asst.  Adjt.  Genl. 

When  this  order  was  read  and  we  were  not  mentioned  and 
not  brigaded,  we  thought  it  meant  that  we  were  left  out,  to  be 
immediately  discharged,  and  we  emphasized  our  demand,  "A 
fight  or  a  discharge."  In  addition  to  this  there  was  published  in 
the  papers  a  letter  by  Adjutant-General  Schofield  in  which  he 
said  to  headquarters  in  St.  Louis  that  General  Lyon  had  only 
7,000  men  and  the  enemy  80,000,  and  he  used  this  language : 

"All  idea  of  any  further  advance  movement,  or  of  even  main 
taining  our  present  position,  must  soon  be  abandoned  unless  the 
Government  furnishes  us  promptly  with  large  reinforcements 
and  supplies.  Our  troops  are  badly  clothed,  poorly  fed,  and  im- 


252  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

perfectly  supplied  with  tents.  None  of  them  have  as  yet  been 
paid,  and  the  three-months  volunteers  have  become  disheart 
ened  to  such  extent  that  very  few  of  them  are  willing  to  renew 
their  enlistment." 

This  letter,  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the  facts  before  us,  and  the 
enemy  around  us,  mack4  us  feel  melancholy,  and  we  did  not  sing 
"The  Happy  Land  of  Canaan"  for  perhaps  a  whole  day;  but  we 
did  do  something  which  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice. 
Old  Mace  with  his  African  dialect  seemed  to  be  unable  to  say 
"Corporal";  he  called  it  "Corpular."  He  addressed  me  as 
"Corpular  Link"  although  I  was  no  corporal.  On  account  of 
the  bravery  of  Mace  in  the  "Forsyth  Campaign"  we  all  voted  to 
promote  him  to  "Corpular."  He  had  acquired  an  old  blue  army 
blouse  somewhere,  which  he  wore  without  any  shirt.  The  badge 
of  a  corporal  was  a  "double  V,"  one  inside  of  the  other,  worn 
open  end  up  on  the  sleeve  below  the  shoulder.  Frank  Johnson, 
an  artist  of  our  company,  sewed,  on  Mace's  blouse,  corporal's 
chevrons  upside  down.  We  got  Mace  down  on  his  knees,  and 
Corporal  Churubusco  took  the  mess  frying-pan  and  struck  Mace 
hard  on  each  shoulder  and  said,  "I  dub  thee  Corpular,"  in  true 
knightly  fashion.  We  all  enjoyed  it  and  Mace  was  nearly 
tickled  to  death,  arid  from  that  time  went  by  the  name  of  "Cor 
pular  Mace."  Two  years  or  more  after  that  time  one  of  our 
company  (Crowder),  being  in  the  army  down  South,  ran  onto  a 
negro  artillery  regiment  near  Vicksburg,  and  there  was  Mace 
with  red  corporal's  chevrons  on.  He  was  delighted  to  meet 
Crowder,  and  said,  "I'se  a  real  sure-enough  Corpular  now." 
Since  that  time  none  of  us  have  ever  heard  of  Mace. 


CHAPTER  24. 

July  26th. — Butter  and  Sausage. — Little  York. — Lake  Spring. — Putrid 
Beef. — The  Protest. — The  Lieutenant's  Address. — Economizing  on 
Poker.— Polishing  Gun. — Picket-firing. — July  27th.— Cavalry  Active.— 
•  Spies  and  Artillery. — Commissary  Stores  Give  Out, — -Schofield's  Letter. 
— Lyon's  Letter. — John  S.  Phelps. — The  Hegira.— The  Wagon-Train.— 
Letter  per  Phelps.— Needs  of  the  Occasion. — Wheat  and  Mills. — -Lyon 
Worried. — July  28th. — Mush  and  Coffee.— Whisky. — Mace's  Story  About 
Col.  Clay. — Mace  grows  Nervous.— Camp  McClellan. — Camp  Mush  No.  2. 

On  Friday,  July  Twenty-sixth,  we  awoke  to  the  sound  of  the 
bugle  at  3  :  30 ;  we  had  been  sleeping  around  in  groups,  among  the 
sumac  bushes  on  the  edge  of  town.  Corporal  Churubusco  came 
in  along  toward  morning  with  two  pounds  of  butter  and  seven 
pounds  of  link  sausage  dried  and  smoked.  As  he  never  would 
explain  where  or  how  he  got  them,  or  if  there  were  any  more 
there  where  he  got  them,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
came  from  the  lower  regions  and  had  some  conscientious  scru 
ples  as  to  whether  we  should  eat  them  or  not ;  but  as  we  had  no 
rations  issued  to  us  the  evening  before  except  turtle  loaves  of 
bread,  we  swallowed  our  scruples  and  subsequently  the  sau 
sage.  All  at  once  we  started  marching,  and  took  a  westerly 

o  *— > ' 

course,  instead  of  east  as  we  expected.  Our  Lieutenant  knew 
nothing  of  where  we  were  going,  or  why,  but  one  thing  was  clear  : 
we  were  not  being  mustered  out.  \Ye  marched  about  twelve 
miles;  we  went  near  a  village  called  then  Little  York  (I  do  not 
find  it  now  on  the  map),  and  from  there  a  mile  northwest  to  a 
place  called  Lake  Spring,  and  camped  out  on  the  prairie.  Our 

(253) 


254  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

march  was  a  silent  one;  the  boys  were  disconsolate  and  the 
weather  red-hot.  We  camped  on  the  prairie,  out  in  the  hot  sun 
without  any  shade  except  a  fringe  of  sumac  along  a  swale  where 
there  was  a  large  spring.  As  we  had  no  tents,  the  heat  of  the 
sun  made1  the  camp  almost  intolerable.  Here  our  rations  broke 
down  again.  We  had  mush  and  sassafras  tea  for  supper.  A 
quarter  of  beef  had  been  sent  to  our  camp,  but  it  was  found  to  be 
fly-blown  'and  putrid,  and  to  have  been  issued  to  the  regulars  and 
by  them  rejected  and  then  sent  to  us.  This  irritated  us  very 
greatly,  and  we  went  to  our  officers  and  wanted  our  Lieutenant 
to  head  an  armed  delegation  of  us,  to  go  to  headquarters  and 
present  our  grievances,  and,  in  the  language4  of  Corporal  Churu- 
busco,  "raise  hell."  Our  Lieutenant  smoothed  us  down  the 
back,  told  us  that  we  would  soon  be  out,  that  we  must  not  do  any 
thing  to  blur  the  good  name  of  the  regiment,  that  we  were  as 
well  treated,  if  not  better,  than  any  other  company  in  the  reg 
iment,  that  we  must  not  lose  our  grip,  that  the  country  needed 
saving  and  needed  it  bad,  that  we  were  doing  bully  by  holding 
the  enemy  back  until  our  people  in  the  North  got  ready,  that  a 
soldier  who  could  not  stand  privations  was  not  worth  a  "tink 
er's  dam,"  that  the  Government  was  just  now  hard  pressed 
and  that  just  now  was  the  time  for  us  to  show  that  the  Govern 
ment  could  depend  on  us;  that  now  was  the  time  to  show 
that  there  was  not  a  "galoot"  in  the  company.  He  wound 
up  by  saying  he  would  see  what  he  could  do  for  us. 

The  word  " galoot"  had  just  been  invented  and  nobody  knew 
its  exact  meaning,  but  the  patriotic  speech  of  our  First  Lieu- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  255 

tenant  got  us  back  onto  our  pins  and  we  stayed  there,  with  a 
little  wabbling,  through  the  trying  days  to  come.  \Ye  took  that 
quarter  of  beef  out  and  buried  it  with  full  military  honors.  As 
it  was  consigned  to  the  tomb  we  all  took  off  our  hats  and  Cor 
poral  Churubusco  read  something  from  the  u  Revised  Army 
Regulations/'  Then  Bill  Huestis  with  profundity  of  tone  and 
the  air  of  an  archbishop  closed  the  ceremony  by  slowly  saying: 
"My  dominicca  rooster  can  whip  your  dominicca  rooster — you 
bet,  you  bet.'' 

I  had  long  noticed  that  the  new  Springfield  rifled  musket  of 
the  regulars -was  a  bright  and  polished  weapon;  it  looked  and 
gleamed  radiantly,  and  as  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  take 
my  old  musket  u Silver  Sue"  out  of  the  army  with  me  and  hang 
her  up,  as  I  had  seen  my  grandfather  hang  his,  I  determined, 
as  I  had  plenty  of  time,  that  I  would  economize  on  poker,  and 
use  my  odds  and  ends  of  time  in  fixing  up  and  polishing  the  gun. 
So  on  this  26th  of  July  I  took  my  gun,  which  had  a  rusty  brown 
enamel  on,  and  getting  some  sandstone  and  using  it  with  the 
emery-paper  which  I  had  bought  in  Springfield,  I  scoured  up 
the  old  gun  in  good  style.  Then  Corporal  Bill  got  a  steel  tube- 
wrench  and  showed  me  how  to  burnish  the  barrel  and  fixtures. 
It  took  me  several  days  to  get  the  gun  into  a  state  of  perfection, 
but  the  steel  was  polished  like  a  mirror  and  the  black-walnut 
stock  was  as  smooth  as  a  piano-top ;  how  it  turned  out  I  will  here 
after  relate. 

Several  times  during  the  day  we  were  called  together  by  the 
long  roll,  which  meant  that  the  enemy  was  making  a  demonstra- 


256  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

tion  on  the  pickets.  We  were  told  to  stay  in  camp  and  to  be 
ready  on  a  moment's  notice.  The  long  roll  means  business; 
we  fell  in  three  times  during  the  night  of  the  26th,  and  on  one 
of  the  occasions  a  troop  of  our  cavalry  dashed  past  us  going 
to  the  front  on  a  run  in  a  southwest  direction,  where  had  been 
heard  firing  on  the  pickets. 

On  July  Twenty-seventh  we  were  called  up  at  about  3  A.  M. 
by  the  long  roll  and  did  not  go  to  sleep  again.  All  day  we  laid 
around  and  I  worked  on  my  gun,  except  such  times  as  I  dozed 
off  or  fell  into  line.  Our  cavalry  were  dashing  around  unceas 
ingly.  Our  picket-posts  were  formed  of  whole  companies  in 
stead  of  squads.  The  artillery  changed  position  every  night 
so  that  the  spies  of  the  daytime  could  not  tell  where  the  ar 
tillery  might  be  in  case  of  a  night  attack.  In  my  memorandum 
I  find  this  entry : 

''Our  commissary  stores  have  given  out :  we  have  had  nothing 
to-day  but  coffee  and  corn-meal,  without  sugar,  or  anything 
else.  We  do  not  know  how  long  we  are  to  remain  here." 

A  letter  to  headquarters  in  St.  Louis,  which  Schofiekl  wrote 
on  July  26th,  contains  this  statement : 

"We  have  heard  of  the  defeat  of  our  troops  in  Virginia,  though 
hardly  enough  to  judge  of  its  extent.  I  fear  this  will  prevent  us 
from  getting  reenforcements.  If  so  the  next  news  will  be  of 
our  defeat  also.  Reenforcements  should  be  sent  on  at  once. 
Our  men  are  very  much  in  need  of  clothing,  particularly  shoes. 
Many  of  the  men  are  entirely  barefooted,  and  hence  unable  to 
march.  I  hope  that  something  can  be  done  for  us  soon." 

General  Lyon  on  July  27th  wrote  to  Adjutant-General  Hard 
ing  at  headquarters  in  St.  Louis  as  follows: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIItST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  257 

"Now  that  matters  North  seem  more  quiet,  cannot  you  man 
age  to  get  a  few  regiments  this  way?  I  am  in  the  deepest  con 
cern  on  this  subject,  and  you  must  urge  this  matter  upon  Fre 
mont  as  of  vital  importance.  These  three-months  volunteers 
would  recnlist  if  they  could  be  paid,  but  they  are  now  dissatis 
fied,  and  if  troops  do  not  replace  them  all  that  is  gained  may  be 
lost.  I  have  not  been  able  to  move  for  want  of  supplies,  and 
this  delay  will  exhaust  the  term  of  the  three-months  men. 
Cannot  something  be  done  to  have  our  men  and  officers  paid, 
as  well  as  our  purchases  paid  for?  If  the  Government  cannot 
give  due  attention  to  the  \Yest  her  interests  must  have  a  corre 
sponding  disparagement.  N.  LYOX, 

Brig.  Genl.  Comdg." 

At  Springfield  was  a  celebrated  Union  man,  who  was  a  Con 
gressman  from  that  district,  JOHN  S.  PHKLPS,  afterwards  Colonel 
and  General,  and  afterwards  Governor  Phelps.  The  United 
States  will  always  be  under  a  debt  of  gratitude1  to  him  and  his 
heirs  forever.  His  wife  was  a  most  superior  woman,  and  as 
staunch  and  as  influential  as  he.  Phelps  visited  our  First  Iowa 
camp  and  talked  with  us  boys  and  gave  us  chewing-tobacco. 
Twenty  per  cent,  of  our  men  we're  sick;  they  couldn't  stand 
corn-meal;  they  were  not  used  to  it:  our  company  from  99 
men  had  got  down  below  SO.  A  large  number  of  the  local  in 
habitants  of  Springfield  wanted  to  get  out  with  their  wives  and 
children  and  go  North,  for  they  feared  a  rebel  victory.  Then1 
was  a  regular  hegira,  and  it  took  the  form  of  a  great  train  of 
wagons  and  people  on  foot  and  horseback  under  escort  of  the 
home-guards.  Lyon  with  them  sent  off  all  of  his  sick  soldiers 
that  could  be  hauled  off.  lie  could  not  feed  them,  and  they 
could  not  be  cared  for,  and  it  was  humane  to  send  them  to  Holla, 


258  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


130  miles  distant,  where  they  could  get  something  to  eat.  Phelps 
went  through  with  this  great  caravan,  bearing  a  letter  in  the 
shape  of  memorandum  for  verbal  presentation  to  Fremont. 
The  memorandum  was  drafted  by  Lyon,  and  was  in  these  words : 

"See  General  Fremont  about  troops  and  stores  for  the  place. 
Our  men  have  not  been  paid,  and  arc  rather  dispirited;  they 
are  badly  off  for  clothing,  and  the  want  of  shoes  unfits  them  for 
marching.  Some  staff  officers  are  badly  needed  and  the  in 
terests  of  the  Government  suffer  for  want  of  them.  The  time 
of  the  three-months  volunteers  is  nearly  out,  and  on  returning 
home,  as  most  of  them  are  disposed  to  do,  my  command  will 
be  reduced  too  low  for  effective  operations.  Troops  must  at 
once  be  forwarded  to  supply  their  place.  The  safety  of  the 
State  is  hazarded ;  orders  from  General  Scott  strip  the  entire 
West  of  regular  forces  and  increase  the  chances  of  sacrificing 
it.  The  public  press  is  full  of  reports  that  troops  from  other 
States  are  moving  towards  the  northern  border  of  Arkansas  for 
the  purpose  of  invading  Missouri." 

Such  was  the  condition  of  things  on  July  27th  while  we  were 
encamped  on  the  sunburned  prairie  about  fifteen  miles  west  of 
Springfield,  Missouri.  Northwest  of  us  for  a  short  distance, 
where  the  people  were  protected,  there  was  a  preponderance 
of  Union  sentiment.  The  wheat  was  in  the  shock;  there  were 
a  few  thrashing-machines  scattered  through  the  country,  and 
they  were  being  worked  to  the  utmost.  Some  were  " Union" 
and  some  were  "Secesh."  Off  at  a  distance  in  different  direc 
tions  were  water-mills  for  grinding  flour.  Sonic  of  the  mills 
were  "Union"  and  some  were  "Secesh";  each  side,  and  the 
adherents  of  each  side,  were  trying  to  get  all  the  supplies 
they  could.  Our  cavalry  was  constantly  engaged  in  escorting 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  259 

wagon-loads  of  flour  and  meal  in  from  these  distant  mills.  Of 
beef  cattle  the  country  seemed  stripped.  Lyon  always  looked 
worried  and  mad.  He  was  sleepless  and  constantly  on  the  go, 
We  never  saw  him  except  when  he  was  dashing  around  with 
some  cavalry  following  him  on  the  run.  Huestis  said:  "Old 
Lyon  is  busier  than  a  snake-doctor."  The  dragon-fly  was  some 
times  called  the  ''snake-doctor." 

July  Twenty-eighth,  up  as  usual,  before  dawn.  Long  roll 
sounded  about  4  A.  M.  We  fell  into  line  before  breakfast. 
Corpular  Mace  was  so  scared  he  could  not  cook;  he  had  a 
brain-storm.  Couriers  were  dashing  around,  and  we  were  told 
that  an  army  was  moving  around  us  to  the  north.  We  stood 
in  line  of  battle  for  an  hour,  and  then  the  word  came  to  stack 
arms  for  one  hour  and  get  breakfast.  For  breakfast,  indeed 
for  the  whole  day,  we  had  only  meal  and  coffee.  I  find  this  in 
my  diary:  "Nothing  all  day  but  mush  and  coffee.  We  hear 
more  of  the  battles  at  Manassas  Gap  and  Bull  Run.  Here  we 
are,  camped  on  a  flat  prairio,  and  the  miserable  rations  have1 
given  everyone  the  diarrhea." 

Late  in  the  afternoon  there  was  issued  to  us  some  whisky;  a 
barrel  of  it  had  been  sent  out  from  Springfield,  but  whether  as  a 
gift  or  as  rations  we  did  not  know.  Each  got  a  quarter  of  a 
pint.  It  was  good  old  whisky,  and  the  effect  was  instantaneous. 
In  thirty  minutes  we  were  all  singing  the  "Happy  Land  of 
Canaan";  we  wanted  "A  fight  or  a  discharge,"  with  a  prefer 
ence  for  a  fight. 

What  a  blessing  whisky  is  and  how  grossly  it  has  been  slan- 


260  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

dered!  When  the  griefs  and  burdens  and  miseries  and  cares 
which  we  are  bearing  cut  down  and  into  us,  and  chafe  and  gall 
us,  how  grateful  it  seems  to  shift  the  load  a  little  and  let  the 
raw  spot  heal.  Wretchedness  that  bears  down  with  an  un 
endurable  weight  becomes  lighter.  Whisky  is  a  great  curse,  but 
it  is  a  greater  blessing.  It  does  much  harm  but  it  does  more 
good.  Those  who  are  on  "soft  duty"  in  life's  great  detail  can 
not  understand  it;  but  those  who  do  the  world's  work  and 
carry  its  burdens  do.  Let  them  alone;  they  know  what  makes 
life  endurable. 

Old  Mace  told  a  whisky  story  this  evening  about  the  Mexi 
can  War,  that  I  preserved.  I  cannot  give  the  Corpular's  dialect 
manner,  and  will  only  try  to  tell  it  in  substance : 

"You  see  I  was  owned  then  by  the  Clay  family  ob  Kentucky 
and  my  massa  was  young  Harry  Clay,  who  was  Kunnel  ob  a 
regiment.  When  he  was  killed  in  Mexico  they  took  him  down 
to  the  coast  and  put  him  in  one  of  them  long  wine-casks.  They 
had  bolted  down  on  the  bottom  of  the  cask  on  the  inside  a  great 
big  block  of  laid  [lead],  and  then  headed  it  up  and  filled  it  with 
whisky  with  him  in.  And  they  put  it  on  a  ship  with  the  laid 
end  down  and  sent  me  along  to  take  keer  of  it.  I  slept  along 
side  of  it,  and  them  sailors  said  they  done  seen  massa  Clay 
every  night  come  out  en  that  baii.  And  they  done  drunk  the 
whisky  offn  Massa  Henry  Clay  three  times  before  we  got  to  New 
Yorlins,  and  the  captain  had  to  fill  it  up  three  times.  And  he 
sword  offul.  Sailors  tried  to  make  me  think  that  Massa  Clay 
done  drink  it  up  his  own  self  and  come  out  for  mo.;? 

Mace  has  got  so  nervous  that  he  can  hardly  cook.  The 
negroes  seem  to  have  a  sort  of  grapevine  intelligence  line ;  Old 
Mace  seems  to  know  where  all  the  rebel  regiments  are  lo- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  261 

cated ;  he  says  we  are  going  to  have  trouble  and  that  the  man 
that  gets  him  is  two  thousand  dollars  ahead.  When  asked  who 
his  last  master  was  and  where  from,  he  refuses  to  tell.  He 
would  only  say,  "I'zo  a  free  niggah  now  and  1'ze  dun  gwine  to 
stay  free,  hear  me." 

It  seems  that  all  General  Lyon's  army  is  now  encamped  in 
and  around  this  place;  not  all  together,  but  so  near  that  they 
can  all  get  together  in  an  hour.  Our  place  is  called  "Camp 
Mc.Clollan,"  but  the  boys  call  it  "Camp  Mush,  No.  2."  Twice 
during  the  afternoon  the  long  roll  was  sounded  and  we  formed 
in  line  of  battle  facing  west.  And  while  in  line  a  company  of 
our  cavalry  went  past  us  to  the  west  on  the  dead  run. 


CHAPTER  25. 

July  29th. — Dado  County  Demonstration. — Picket  Duty. — The  Hucldle- 
ston  Girls. — July  30th. — A  Sorry  Breakfast. — Company  Quarrels. — 
Fresh  Beef. — Corporal  Churubusco  Tells  Story. — The  Mexican  War. — 
Champagne. — Brevets. — July  31st. — Blackberry  Root. — Our  Lieuten 
ant. — Beef  and  Wheat. — Assembly  at  1  A.  M. — Night  Inspection. — Au 
gust  1st. — Coffee,  Beef,  and  Bread. — Guthrie  and  the  Mule. — Lize. — 
Ordered  to  March. — Going  South. — No  Orders  to  Halt. — Sleeping  among 
the  Flints.— The  "Wire  Road." 

July  Twenty-ninth  brought  welcome  daylight.  Ever  and 
anon  last  night  we  heard  a  shot  fired  or  a  bugle-blast.  Seems 
that  the  enemy  was  trying  to  keep  us  from  going  to  sleep.  We 
had  to  stay  in  camp  closely  all  day.  If  they  would  allow  us 
to  go  out  and  forage  we  might  get  something,  but  we  are  told 
to  stay  in  camp  waiting  for  the  call.  We  are  told  that  we  may 
have  to  march  out  and  have  a  fight  any  minute;  so  we  stay 
in  camp  and  blaspheme  the  rations  and  the  officers.  We  did 
not  have  any  coffee  to-day  but  did  get  a  50-lb.  sack  of  wheat 
flour.  The  enemy  is  making  cavalry  demonstrations  north 
west  of  us  in  Dado  county,  Missouri.  This  forenoon  200  regu 
lar  cavalry,  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  thousand  infantry, 
part  First  Missouri  and  part  Second  Kansas,  were  sent  north 
west  to  head  off  any  demonstration  in  that  direction.  They 
struck  over  into  Bade  county  and  headed  off  the  rebel  detach 
ment  that  was  going  after  the  "  Union  mills.''  The  rebels  fled 
and  our  boys  captured  and  brought  in  several  wagon-loads  of 

secesh  wheat.     We  were  on  mush,  and  this  wheat  was  very 

(262) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  263 

welcome.  We  boiled  the  wheat  whole  and  ate  a  lot  of  it;  it 
was  very  good  food.  Why  don't  people  eat  boiled  wheat? 
It  is  good  stuff;  the  same  as  boiled  rice.  The  only  fault  we  had 
to  find  was  that  it  was  not  issued  to  us  more;  we  only  got  it 
then  for  that  one  day.  During  the  day  I  was  put  out  on  picket 
about  a  half-mile  from  camp,  on  a  little  knoll  where  there 
was  an  apple  orchard  and  prairie.  At  the  house  was  a  very 
old  man  who  said  that  we  would  get  licked  out  of  our  boots 
inside  of  two  weeks,  and  that  the  United  States  could  not  bor 
row  any  more  money  to  carry  on  the  war  with.  I  saw  horse 
men  riding  around  about  half  a  mile  south,  near  the  timber; 
I  was  posted  south  of  camp;  there  were  seven  big  solid,  corn- 
fed  girls  at  the  house.  They  said  their  names  were  Huddlcston. 
They  laughed  at  me  and  joked  me  for  being  a  "Yank";  they 
said  they  had  tied  up  the  cow  for  fear  she  would  eat  me  up,  I 
was  so  green;  they  asked  me  where  I  got  my  clothes;  they  said 
the  Confederate  officers  were  well  dressed  and  very  handsome 
gentlemen,  and  that  some  of  them  had  been  in  to  visit  our  camp 
and  had  just  left  their  house.  They  offered  me  a  plate  of  stuff 
to  eat,  but  I  did  not  dare  take  it, — I  was  afraid  it  was  "doped"; 
and  I  was  awfully  hungry  for  something  good  to  eat.  They 
laughed,  and  said  I  was  afraid.  I  stayed  away  from  them— 
had  to  do  it — they  evidently  had  some  plot.  I  stayed  away 
and  kept  up  my  watch  from  the  orchard  out  of  sight.  I  was  to 
be  relieved  at  eight  o'clock  r.  M.  About  seven  o'clock  I  was 
out  on  the  edge  of  the  orchard  when  all  of  the  girls  came  out 
laughing;  they  wanted  to  talk,  but  I  knew  they  wanted  to 


264  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

take  me  in  and  do  mo  up.  Thoy  could  have  taken  me  in,  in  a 
moment,  if  I  permitted  thorn  to  close  in  on  me.  I  told  them  to 
stay  away;  I  mounted  the  bayonet  on  my  gun  and  wont  out 
into  the  prairie  and  told  them  to  keep  off.  They  pranced  around 
at  a  distance  and  laughed  and  whooped,  and  yelled  "Cowardy, 
cowardy  calf!"  It  was  pretty  tough,  but  I  had  to  stand  it. 
It  was  a  scene  that  a  young  man  in  my  situation  could  scarcely 
forget.  I  am  satisfied  that  my  action  saved  my  life  at  this 
time.  When  I  was  relieved  I  told  the  corporal  of  the  guard 
all  about  it,  and  put  my  successor  onto  the  situation.  I  was 
afterwards  told  that  two  Missouri  soldiers  were  never  heard 
of  afterwards  who  were  put  on  duty  at  this  place,  and  that  the 
girls  disappeared.  I  had  a  tough  night  of  it  owing  to  my  chew 
ing  so  many  sour  green  apples  in  tho  orchard  while4  on  guard. 
On  July  Thirtieth  we  were  up  at  3:30.  We  had  a  sorry 
breakfast,  a  sorry  dinner,  and  a  sorry  supper.  Wo  just  ate  our 
mush  and  laid  around.  We  could  not  oven  go  out  and  hunt 
for  a  sassafras  tree1;  we  just  simply  laid  around  in  the  hot  sun. 
Mush  all  day  and  nothing  else.  Our  time  had  expired  ten  days. 
Some  of  the  boys  got  off  their  balance  and  wanted  to  stack 
arms  and  march  back  to  Holla.  Everybody  got  quarrelsome ; 
there  must  have4  boon  twenty  fights  that  day;  the  company 
seemed  to  be  going  to  pieces.  Our  Lieutenant -commanding 
must  have4  boon  alarmed,  and  probably  reported  it.  In  the 
evening  after  supper  in  came  a  big  hind-quarter  of  beef,  weigh 
ing,  I  should  say,  over  200  pounds;  it  was  quite  tough,  but  wo 
immediately  went  to  work  on  it ;  there  were  about  2J  Ibs. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  265 


to  the  man,  and  by  breakfast-time  it  was  gone.  That  night 
Corporal  Churubusco  got  to  telling  us  about  the  Mexican  War, 
and  how  much  better  the  Government  then  took  care  of  its 
soldiers  than  now.  These  were  the  outlines  of  his  story : 

.  "I  was  only  a  private  in  the  rear  rank;  I  wasn't  even  acting- 
assistant  flunky  to  a  lance  corporal's  bunky — I  was  just  a  com 
mon  freckled-faced  ' Dough-Boy'  in  Co.  'G.;  Well,  at  Yera 
Cruz  before  we  started  up  the  hill  for  Mexico  the  officers  had  the 
wide-openest  blow-out  I  ever  see.  They  had  up  a  big  long 
tent,  right  out  there  on  the  sand — sand  two  feet  deep — they 
must  have  put  several  tents  together.  All  the  officers  were 
there;  not  much  to  eat,  but  just  dead-oodles  of  champagne, 
and  speech-making  until  you  couldn't  rest.  They  hollered 
and  yelled  and  shouted ;  said  what  they  was  a-going  to  do  to 
the  greasers  when  they  got  up  there.  I  was  put  on  guard  out- 
twenty  feet  in  front  of  the  tent,  so  that  nobody  could  break  in 
on  them  from  that  direction.  My  Lieutenant  stuck  his  head 
out  of  the  tent  to  get  a  fresh  breath  of  air  and  saw  me.  Says 
he,  'Shannon,  is  that  you?'  and  I  said  'Yes/  and  saluted  him. 
He  went  back  and  got  a  quart  bottle  of  champagne  and  came? 
out  with  it,  and  with  a  niggah  to  open  it.  I  thanked  him  and 
he  went  back,  and  I  drank  half  of  it  and  stuck  the  bottle  down 
in  the  sand  and  then  in  a  little  while  drank  the  other  half. 
Well,  the  big  hoodoo  went  on  in  the  tent  and  I  got  tired  of  stand 
ing  guard  and  went  off  to  my  tent  or  somewhere,  and  next  day 
I  was  told  that  I  had  been  reported  and  was  a-going  to  be 
court-martialed  and  shot  for  deserting  my  post,  but  nothing 
came  of  it,  for  it  was  fixed  up  somehow.  Well,  we  walked  up 
to  the  City  of  Mexico  and  marched  around  and  had  dress-parade 
in  the  cathedral  square  and  then  out  onto  the  campus.  Old 
Fuss  and  Feathers  marched  in  at  the  Helen  gate  because  that's 
where  Cortez  marched  in;  he  was  playing  the  Cortez  act  all  the 
time.  There  was  a  big  Mexican  building  out  near  the  cam]), 
and  the  officers  had  to  have  another  banquet.  And  they  did. 
They  had  a  Jo  Bowers  of  a  time.  Wagon-loads  of  champagne. 


266  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

Bright  beautiful  moonlight.  Gee-whiz,  what  a  time  they  had! 
Speeches  galore,  stars  and  stripes,  halls  of  the  Montezumas, 
bald  eagle  of  victory,  whiz,  bang, — every  time  they  cheered  a 
barrel  of  champagne  disappeared.  It  just  happened  to  be  my 
luck  to  be  drawn  for  guard  duty  again  that  night,  and  there  I 
was  about  1  o'clock  in  the  morning  a-walking  up  and  do\vn  in 
front  of  the  big  picket-gate  where  all  of  this  was  a-going  on. 
An  officer  came  out  to  get  a  breath  of  air;  I  wasn't  over  a 
hundred  feet  from  him,  and  he  says,  'Jo,  is  that  you?'  Says  I, 
'Betcherlife.  Can't  you  send  out  a  little  something?'  and  he 
disappeared  and  out  came  a  cold  quart  and  a  niggah  with  a 
corkscrew,  and  that  fluid  saturated  into  me  in  about  four  min 
utes.  I  shouldered  my  gun  and  went  to  my  tent  or  somewhere. 
We  had  'em  licked  anyway.  The  next  day  I  was  put  in  the 
guard-house  and  told  that  I  would  be  court-martialed  and 
shot  the  next  morning.  My  Lieutenant  came  to  see  me,  and 
he  told  me  to  keep  still  and  not  give  him  away;  that  it  would 
ruin  him  if  I  told  about  it.  Told  me  to  just  stand  trial  and  say 
nothing,  and  that  he'd  see  General  Scott  and  have  it  all  fixed 
up.  I  promised  him.  The  next  day  I  was  court-martialed, 
and  they  sentenced  me  to  five  lashes  well  laid  on,  a  ten-pound 
ball  on  my  left  leg,  confinement  in  the  castle  of  San  Juan  D'Ulloa 
until  the  war  ended,  and  then  my  head  was  to  be  shaved  and  I 
was  to  be  dishonorably  discharged.  Wasn't  that  a  dandy 
sentence?  It  was  'Dandy  Jim  from  Caroline.'  And  my 
Lieutenant  came  in  the  next  day  and  said :  '  Keep  a  stiff  upper 
lip;  you  toted  fair  with  me  and  I  will  tote  fair  with  you.'  So 
he  went  off  and  sawr  Old  Fuss  and  Feathers,  and  he  made  an 
order  expunging  the  sentence  and  restoring  me  to  duty  on  ac 
count  of  my  gallantry  in  action,  and  my  soldierly  qualities. 
Now  the  funny  part  of  it  is  that  my  Lieutenant  did  not  give 
me  the  quart  of  champagne.  He  evidently  had  given  some 
guard  a  bottle  or  thought  he  had,  and  supposed  it  was  me. 

"That  Mexican  War  was  a  champagne  war.  It  was  just  like 
chasing  rabbits.  All  them  officers  got  two  or  three  brevets; 
those  what  had  seen  a  Mexican  anywhere  got  it  for  'gallantry 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  267 

in  action/  them  that  hadn't  seen  any  got  it  for  ' meritorious 
services.'  There's  Price  and  McCullough  and  others  in  front 
us — they've  all  got  those  brevets.  Price  never  saw  a  Mexi 
can  soldier,  but  got  to  be  a  general.  But  this  war  ain't  that 
kind  of  a  war,  you'll  see;  this  ain't  no  champagne  war." 

.  We  then  called  on  Fletch  Branderbury  to  sing  us  something, 
and  he  sang,  "Did  you  ever  go  into  an  Irishman's  shanty,  where 
the  boys  and  the  girls  and^  the  whisky  was  plenty?"  Then 
we  rolled  over  on  the  ground  arid  looked  up  between  the  stars 
and  tried  to  look  beyond  them  and  see  what  kind  of  a  roof  there 
was  over  it  all. 

Then  we  wished  the  war  was  over,  and  then  we  went  to  sleep 
with  "Lize"  barking  at  something. 

July  Thirty-first.  It  has  stopped  raining,  and  has  been  dry 
for  several  days.  Things  are  beginning  to  show  the  effects  of 
heat.  The  boys  are  all  tanned  to  a  hazelnut  brown.  Our  com 
pany  has  got  down  to  about  seventy -five  men.  One-fourth  of 
the  boys  are  knocked  out.  I  don't  know  what  becomes  of  the 
sick  boys;  they  are  hauled  off  somewhere  and  we  don't  hear 
of  them  again.  We  drew  corn-meal  only  and  about  a  full  ration 
of  sugar.  We  used  a  little,  very  little  of  the  sugar  to  flavor 
the  mush,  and  used  the  balance  to  sweeten  the  blackberry- 
root  decoction  that  all  were  drinking.  There  were  lots  of 
blackberries  growing  near  us,  and  we  cut  the  roots  up  and  boiled 
camp-kettles  full  of  them.  It  was  all  that  kept  us  from  going 
to  pieces.  This  was  the  worst  day  we  ever  experienced  in 
camp.  It  was  the  most  melancholy.  We  had  quit  playing 
cards.  The  boys  were  getting  morose.  Nobody  had  any  friends. 


268  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


Our  Lieutenant-commanding  lost  his  placid  look  and  found 
fault  with  his  superiors.  Rumor  said  that  he  had  a  cussing- 
inatch  with  some  one  at  headquarters  every  day,  but  he  never 
talked  harshly  to  any  of  his  men.  He  is  reported  to  have  told 
those  at  Lyon's  headquarters  that  if  they  did  not  feed  his  men 
he  would  march  them  off  to  where  they  would  be  fed,  and  that 
he  would  not  wait  any  longer.  Every  once  in  a  while  at  com 
pany  headquarters  he  would  jump  up  and  begin  to  talk  to- him 
self  and  swear  like  a  pirate,  and  then  pike  off  to  brigade  head 
quarters  with  something  on  his  mind.  It  was  said  that  his 
ebullitions  were  artistic  and  were  listened  to  there  with  atten 
tion.  Then  he  would  come  back  and  say  nothing  for  an  hour 
or  so,  and  then  he  would  rise  and  begin  talking  to  himself ,  and 
then  begin  to  swear,  and  then  he  would  rush  off  again  to  head 
quarters.  -  We  never  did  know  exactly  what  was  done  by  him 
at  headquarters,  but  the  result  was  that  on  that  evening  we  got 
a  big  quarter  of  beef  and  sat  up  until  a  late  hour  cooking  and 
eating  it.  With  it  we  got  several  bushels  of  wheat.  We  parched 
this  wheat  in  mess-pans  and  we  pounded  up  the  wheat  with  the 
butts  of  our  guns  in  mess-pans,  and  to  make  a  long  story  short 
we  went  to  bed  about  12  p.  M.,  full  of  beef  and  wheat  and  feeling 
happier  than  dukes.  We  had  been  asleep  about  two  hours 
when  through  our  camp  ran  some  cavalry  blowing  a  bugle  at  a 
furious  rate,  sounding  "Assembly."  We  got  into  line,  and  in 
spection  of  arms  was  ordered.  Some  officer  whom  we  did 
not  know  went  down  our  line  inspecting  the  guns,  then  be 
ginning  again  at  the  head  he  inspected  our  cartridges.  To 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  269 


some  of  the  boys  he  issued  new  cartridges  in  place  of  those 
that  had  been  " caked"  by  moisture.  In  front  of  our  company 
a  box  of  ball-cartridges  had  been  unscrewed  so  that  the  com 
pany  could  be  supplied.  There  was  no  light  but  starlight,  and 
not  a  word  was  said.  As  soon  as  the  inspection  was  over,  no 
order  being  given,  we  lay  right  down  on  the  ground  and  went 
to  sleep  in  ranks.  We  had  got  into  the  habit  of  it.  We  could 
go  to  sleep  whenever  we  wanted  to,  and  we  took  a  sleep  when 
ever  we  could  or  deemed  it  best.  We  could  sleep  at  any  time  or 
place.  There  was  some  firing  on  the  pickets  west  of  us,  but  it 
was  scattering  and  desultory;  it  was  not  strong  enough  to  show 
a  night  attack. 

On  August  First  we  rose  in  ranks  at  call  of  bugle.  We  had 
coffee,  beef,  and  a  wagon-load  of  bread, — big  turtle  loaves  of 
bread.  It  had  boon  baked  in  Springfield  and  hauled  out  to  us. 
We  ate  a  large  strong  breakfast.  We  were  told  to  keep  to 
gether  and  not  get  away  from  the  bugle.  We  laid  around  and 
put  in  our  whole  forenoon  eating  and  sleeping.  We  would  eat 
an  hour  and  sleep  an  hour.  I  here  wish  to  state  a  circumstance 
that  I  had  overlooked,  and  that  is  about  Guthrie  and  the  mule. 
On  our  trip  to  Forsyth,  Guthrie  had  acquired  a  mule.  He  did 
not  impress  or  levy  on  it — it  just  came  poking  its  head  out  of 
the  brush  where  Guthrie  happened  to  be,  and  walked  up  to 
Guthrie  and  offered  its  services.  Guthrie  put  his  gun-sling 
around  the  mule's  nock  and  rode  on  in  the  column.  Then 
he  let  one  of  the  tired  boys  ride,  and  in  a  little  while  Guthrie 
had  established  a  hospital  with  an  ambulance  attachment. 


270  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

Everywhere  that  Guthrie  went  that  mule  was  sure  to  go.  The 
mule  seemed  to  place  the  utmost  confidence  in  Guthrie,  and 
Guthrie  hung  on  to  the  mule.  Guthrie  had  lived  on  a  farm 
once  and  fully  understood  mule  language  and  mule  diplomacy, 
and  getting  some  rope  he  made  a  lariat  and  kept  the  mule 
picketed  out  and  fed  and  watered.  Although  we  as  soldiers 
might  have  little  or  no  food,  there  were  oceans  of  grass  for  the 
mule,  and  Guthrie,  who  was  one  of  our  brightest  boys,  had 
sense  enough  to  take  good  care  of  the  mule  and  claim  owner 
ship  and  refuse  to  turn  him  over  to  the  quartermaster.  Guthrie 
and  the  mule  became  inseparable.  So,  when  the  orderly  ser 
geant  called  the  roll  and  got  to  the  "G's"  he  would  call  " Greg 
ory,"  " Grimes,"  " Guthrie  and  the  mule."  So  the  mule  got 
into  the  roll-call  and  Guthrie  would  answer  "Both  here."  Our 
company  dog  "Lize"  had  grown  fat  and  became  of  no  practical 
use  except  to  keep  us  supplied  with  fleas.  Shortly  after  noon 
our  company  wagon  drove  up;  it  was  filled  with  barrels  of  hard 
tack,  a  sack  of  coffee,  and  some  boxes  of  bacon ;  we  were  ordered 
to  break  camp  and  put  our  stuff  into  the  wagon,  and  be  ready 
to  start  at  two  o'clock  p.  M.  None  of  the  captains  or  officers 
knew  where  we  were  going,  but  we  all  felt  that  we  were  now 
going  to  go  back  to  Rolla  and  be  mustered  out.  We  felt  that 
the  time  had  come  to  get  out  of  the  miserable  starved  country. 
We  did  not  start  at  two  o'clock,  and  we  went  into  the  wagons 
and  began  eating  again.  Then  the  order  was  given  for  four 
o'clock,  but  no  start.  At  six  o'clock  p.  M.  the  order  was  to  go, 
and  off  we  went  in  the  direction  of  Springfield,  but  after  a  while 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  271 

we  turned  south.  We  all  thought  we  were  going  home,  until 
the  turn  was  made.  We  marched  south  down  a  rough  and 
rocky  road  until  we  got  into  a  better  one  that  seemed  to  be 
turning  southwest.  It  was  the  old  "wire  road."  At  three 
o'clock  that  night  we  halted  on  the  side  of  a  mountain.  The 
clay  of  the  road  was  red  and  washed,  and  the  trees  extended 
into  the  blackness  on  both  sides.  The  road  was  rocky  and  full 
of  flints.  We  had  been  going  for  nine  hours  in  the  direction 
of  the  enemy,  at  a  slow  rate;  I  guessed  it  at  eighteen  miles. 
No  orders  were  given  to  halt ;  those  in  front  of  us  stopped  and 
then  we  stopped,  and  in  five  minutes  we  had  curled  up  among 
the  gravel  and  flints  and  were  all  sound  asleep  in  the  middle 
of  the  road,  each  man  holding  on  to  his  gun.  There  is  a  lot  of 
art  in  sleeping  among  the  rocks  and  gravel.  You  have  to  spread 
your  blanket  and  then  get  your  hands  under  you  and  pull  out 
the  rocks  and  gravel  at  places  where  they  stick  up  too  far; 
at  last  you  get  the  ground  so  that  it  just  fits  you.  Then  you 
can  sleep  splendidly  if  you  don't  move.  If  you  want  to  move 
you  must  get  the  gravel  and  flints  moved  again  so  that  they 
will  fit  again.  It  is  no  trick  sleeping  among  the  rocks — it's  easy 
when  you  know  how. 

The  "wire  road"  was  the  main  thoroughfare  southwest  from 
Springfield,  through  Cassville,  Keitsville,  and  down  to  Fayette- 
ville,  Ark.  It  was  an  ancient  road,  following  probably  an  old 
prehistoric  Indian  trail.  A  telegraph  wire  had  been  strung 
along  it  among  the  trees  on  the  roadside,  for  it  went  through 
forest  most  of  the  way.  This  telegraph  line  gave  it  the  name 
of  the  "Wire  Road." 


CHAPTER  26. 

August  2d. — Up  Early. — Line  of  Battle  Formed. — The  Rebel  Divisions. — 
McCullough .  —  Rains.  —  Pearce.  —  Steele.  —  Hunting  McCullough.  - — -  De- 
ploying  as  Skirmishers. — The  Rally. — The  Cavalry  Charge. — The  Sabre 
Drip. — ('hanging  Positions. — Trying  to  Find  the  Enemy. — Tottcn. — 
Went  into  Camp. — A  Picket-post. — -August  3d. — Line  of  Battle. — Reach 
ing  for  Land  Warrant. — Woman  and  her  Children. — Forward  Movement. 
—The  Store  and  Camp.— The  Supplies.— The  Buttermilk.— The  Charge. 
• — Jarvi.s  Barker's  Company. — Paddy  Miles. — Boot-heel. — The  Well. — 
Bake-oven. — Bogus  Camp-fires. 

On  August  Second  there  was  no  bugle-call;  some  one  came 
around  and  waked  us  up  quietly  about  six  o'clock,  and  we  were 
told  to  go  to  our  company  wagons  and  get  a  cold  lunch,  and  to 
make  no  fires  and  no  noise.  We  were  told  that  we  were  in  the 
presence  of  the  enemy  and  that  we  had  better  put  a  day's  lunch 
in  our  haversacks,  for  we  did  not  know  when  we  would  see  our 
company  wagon  again.  We  were  also  told  to  fill  our  canteens 
the  first  chance  we  got,  no  matter  what  kind  of  water  it  was. 
We  then  got  lunch  and  marched  into  the  woods,  and  formed 
a  line  of  battle.  Then  we  waited  a  little  and  marched  forward 
in  line  of  battle.  Then  we  heard  a  gun  or  two  go  off  in  our  front. 
Then  we  marched  forward;  we  were  on  the  right  side  of  a  road 
that  seemed  to  go  southerly  and  we  were  stretched  out  at  right 
angles  to  it.  On  the  left  of  the  road  were  some  regular  infantry; 
]  also  noticed  a  piece  of  six-pound  artillery;  the  road  was  kept 
clear  and  cavalrymen  were  dashing  up  and  down,  apparently 
carrying  dispatches.  About  9  o'clock  the  enemy's  calvary  be 
gan  feeling  of  us. 

(272) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  273 

The  way  of  it  was  this :  Three  Rebel  armies  were  approach 
ing  Springfield.  (We  called  them  armies  then;  afterwards  we 
called  them  "detachments.")  These  armies  were  under  differ 
ent  generals,  all  old  Mexican  War  officers;  they  were  called 
"Mexican  War  veterans";  everyone  who  was  in  the  Mexican 
War  was  a  "veteran"  whether  he  had  ever  seen  a  Mexican  or 
not.  Of  the  armies  advancing  from  the  south  on  Springfield 
it  seems  that  the  Confederate  General  McCullough  was  the 
senior  in  Confederate  rank,  and  commanded  the  first  division 
of  the  Confederate  corps.  His  advance  guard  was  commanded 
by  General  Rains ;  and,  as  McCullough's  forces  had  been  pushed 
the  farthest  forward,  General  Lyon  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
hit  McCullough  before  he  united  with  the  others.  After  he 
had  got  through  with  McCullough,  Lyon  was  then  to  try  Pearce 
and  Stecle,  who  commanded  the  other  two  divisions.  Mc 
Cullough  was  from  Texas,  Pearce  was  from  Arkansas,  and  Steele 
was  from  Missouri.  They  were  all  separated  from  one  another. 
Sterling  Price  was  then  Major-General  of  Missouri,  commanding 
only  the  Missouri  State  Guard,  which  guard  was  lying  around 
loose  .in  the  country  and  engaged  in  giving  us  trouble  generally 
and  veiling  the  movements  of  the  other  troops.  McCullough 
was  the  best  general  of  them  all  in  many  respects;  lie  was  killed 
within  six  months  thereafter,  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge. 

At  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  2d  we  were  hunting 
for  McCullough,  and  did  not  exactly  know  where  he  was.  They 
were  feeling  of  us  to  see  who  we  were  and  how  many  of  us  there 
were.  Two  companies  of  our  regiment  were  deployed  as  skir- 


274  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

mishers  to  see  what  there  was  ahead  of  us.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  road  the  regulars  moved  forward  with  four  companies.  Two 
companies  were  of  Second  U.  S.  Infantry,  "B"  and  UE."  They 
were  deployed  as  skirmishers,  Captain  Stcele  commanding. 
(Steele  was  afterwards  Major-General  and  commander  of  the 
Seventh  Army  Corps,  that  had  for  its  badge  the  "  crescent  and 
star.")  A  great  cloud  of  dust  was  in  our  front.  It  had  not 
rained  since  July  23d ;  the  sky  had  been  parching  and  the  travel 
of  the  troops  and  the  wind  that  blew  strongly  that  morning 
made  it  difficult  to  see  very  much  on  account  of  the  dust.  All 
at  once  the  rebel  cavalry  appeared  scattered  along  our  front,  but 
at  a  considerable  distance,  and  we  could  not  tell  whether  they 
were  few  or  many.  I  happened  to  be  out  on  the  skirmish-line. 
A  sort  of  desultory  firing  had  begun  in  the  brush  all  along  the 
line,  but  it  was  wild  and  did  not  amount  to  anything.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  I  never  shot  my  gun,  nor  did  my  comrades  near 
me;  there  was  no  good  chance.  We  kept  going  slowly  forward, 
until  all  at  once  we  heard  a  rush  and  racket  in  our  rear,  and 
to  the  left.  It  was  some  of  our  cavalry  who  had  come  up  and 
were  forming  in  line  for  a  charge.  We  were  ordered  by  bugle 
to  a  rally  by  company/'  which  was  the  order  to  be  given  to  a 
body  of  skirmishers  to  get  together  to  resist  a  cavalry  charge. 
We  were  probably  150  yards  in  front  of  our  regiment,  and  we 
rallied  in  good  shape  with  fixed  bayonets,  when  bang!  went 
the  piece  of  our  artillery  on  our  left,  and  the  cavalry  made  a 
charge  which  but  few  saw,  but  I  was  one  who  did.  The  charge 
was  by  our  friend  Captain  Stanley  of  the  First  U.  S.  Cavalry, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  275 

who  had  been  with  us  down  to  Forsyth.  This  charge  was  one 
of  the  prettiest  things  I  ever  saw.  It  was  made  by  "B,"  "C," 
"D,"  and  "I"  of  the  First  U.  S.  Cavalry.  I  was  then  told  that 
there  were  about  200  men,  which  probably  was  all  there  were 
in  the  four  companies,  as  I  suppose  they  were  down  to  about  50 
men  to  a  company.  Old  Captain  Totten  was  swearing  around 
and  keeping  his  eye  on  the  fight  as  well  as  he  could;  our  cav 
alrymen  in  charging  stayed  together  and  did  not  cover  the  entire 
front  of  the  enemy,  and  Totten  got  a  chance  to  drop  another 
shell  into  the  enemy's  left,  our  right ;  and  away  the  secesh  all 
went  in  a  whoop  and  hurrah.  The  bugle  called  our  men  back 
and  the  cavalry  returned.  They  had  several  of  their  number 
killed  and  wounded,  but  brought  them  back  and  led  the  horses 
with  empty  saddles, — ten,  it  was  reported.  I  remember  one 
of  the  cavalrymen  having  his  sword  out  and  shaking  the  blood 
from  the  tip  of  it.  He  said  he  was  going  to  dry  it  on.  Some 
of  his  comrades  told  him  to  wipe  it  off,  but  he  said,  "no."  They 
halted  near  us  for  a  few  minutes ;  this  man  said  he  had  run  the 
saber  through  a  man  and  pulled  him  off  his  horse  with  it.  All 
this  made  an  impression  on  my  imagination :  this,  I  said,  is  war, 
this  is  the  way  it  looks  in  the  books;  this  is  the  real  thing,  the 
real,  sure-enough  war.  We  then  started  to  maneuvering  around 
in  the  woods.  First  we  would  march  in  one  direction  and  then 
we  were  marched  in  another:  we  went  a  little  forward  and 
fronted  in  one  direction  at  one  angle,  then  changed  position 
and  fronted  in  another.  Hour  after  hour  was  consumed  in  this ; 
sometimes  we  would  see  a  few  enemy  in  the  far  distance,  and 


276  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

then  they  would  disappear.  We  would  from  time  to  time  see 
a  great  deal  of  dust  far  off  to  the  right  or  left,  and  then  it  would 
subside.  We  waited  and  then  changed  our  line  and  waited 
again ;  we  sent  men  with  the  canteens  down  into  the  ravines  to 
fill  them,  and  they  brought  back  hot,  scummy  water.  We 
chewed  tobacco  in  great  quantities  and  were  not  frisky.  The 
picture  of  the  cavalryman  with  the  bloody  saber  retained  its 
vigor,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  not  to  let  a  secesh  cavalryman 
treat  me  that  way,  and  I  did  not  believe  he  could  if  I  had  my 
bayonet. 

Lyon  was  evidently  trying  to  find  the  enemy,  and  did  not 
know  quite  where  they  were  nor  how  they  were  fixed.  Our 
cavalry  had  gone  off  to  the  extreme  right  and  extreme  left. 
Totten  had  fired  but  two  shots.  The  number  of  the  enemy  who 
had  run  up  against  us  was  about  800,  and  finding  a  greater  num 
ber  than  that  of  us  had  wisely  retired.  But  they  had  not  gone 
out  of  business.  They  were  smart  enough  not  to  pitch  onto  us 
until  they  found  out  how  many  there  were  of  us  and  how  we 
were  fixed.  Bill  Huestis  said,  "They're  afraid  and  we  dasn't." 
About  sundown,  to  our  great  surprise  we  were  ordered  back. 
We  went  back  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  a  running  stream  and 
went  into  camp,  built  fires,  cooked  bacon  and  coffee,  filled  up  on 
hard-tack,  and,  loading  our  pipes  with  "boot-heel,"  we  talked 
it  all  over.  It  was  always  my  bad  luck  to  be  drawn  for  guard 
duty  when  times  were  serious.  There  was  an  expression,  "Put 
none  but  Americans  on  guard  to-night."  This  idea  was  prob 
ably  not  warranted,  but  was  often  acted  on.  This  night  our 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  277 


picket-post  was  put  out  on  a  side-hill  commanding  a  deep  and 
dismal  ravine.  A  house  back  a  little  distance  had  been  aban 
doned.  There  was  there  a  miner's  pick  and  a  long-handled 
shovel;  we  got  a  place  between  two  oak  trees;  we  were  six  in 
number;  we  brought  rails,  dug  a  rifle-pit  that  would  hold  us  all, 
and  made  a  pen  around  ourselves.  The  officer  of  the  guard 
was  to  visit  us  every  hour  with  a  sergeant,  both  on  foot.  We 
were  right  up  against  the  enemy.  No  talk  or  hailing  was  to  bo 
made,  no  picket  or  sentry  challenges ;  the  officer  was  to  come  to 
a  certain  place,  then  he  was  to  rap  on  his  saber  with  a  stone 
three  times,  we  in  response  once;  then  he  again  three  times, 
then  we  in  response  once,  and  he  was  to  go  back,  knowing  we 
were  all  right.  Several  persons  were  prowling  around  in  the4 
night,  but  no  armed  body.  We  crept  out  and  prowled  around 
a  little  ourselves.  There  was  motion  and  spying  on  the  part 
of  the  enemy,  but  no  armed  force.  We  were  not  looking  for 
individuals,  but  to  prevent  a  surprise  of  our  camp,  which  was 
very  seriously  apprehended.  Three  of  us  napped  while  three 
stayed  awake.  We  could  see  a  flush  in  the  southern  sky  as  if  a 
thousand  camp-fires  were  burning.  Our  sense  of  hearing  was 
keyed  up  by  our  situation  so  that  we  heard  everything;  the 
woods  seemed  alive  with  game.  We  went  back  into  camp  at 
dawn,  being  relieved  by  some  Kansas  boys. 

I  never  knew  where  any  of  the  Missouri  or  Kansas  soldiers 
were  during  the  day  of  August  2d.  I  was  so  busy  attending  to 
my  own  business  that  I  only  saw  what  was  in  the  front,  or  near 
me  on  the  side.  We  were  nominally  brigaded  with  the  First  and 


278  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

Second  Kansas  Infantry,  but  I  did  not  see  them  that  day.  We 
were  handled  separately;  I  suspect  they  were  off  to  our  right, 
and  perhaps  protecting  us  from  a  flank  attack  from  the  west, 
which  was  the  direction  from  which  an  attack  would  come  if 
the  enemy  in  front  of  us  were  reinforced. 

On  August  Third  we  were  under  arms  at  dawn.  We  had  a 
coarse  solid  breakfast.  Corpular  Mace  had  been  boiling  beef 
all  night.  We  had  taken  some  cattle,  and  were  feeding  heavily 
to  make  up  past  deficiencies.  We  started  to  march  about  8 
A.  M.  straight  for  the  enemy's  position,  but  we  went  slowly  in 
order  of  battle,  and  when  part  of  the  line  had  a  defile  to  pass 
we  waited  until  it  was  passed.  We  went  very  slowly  until  we 
passed  our  former  position.  The  enemy  were  in  great  numbers 
in  front  of  us,  but  retired  slowly.  They  did  not  seem  to  either 
want  to  fight  or  to  run.  Finally  we  passed  the  place  where 
the  enemy  were  the  day  before.  During  the  night  the  dead  had 
been  buried  by  the  enemy  in  trenches  beside  the  road.  They 
had  been  lightly  covered;  there  were  perhaps  25  Confederates 
buried  there.  Our  company  went  close  to  the  trenches  in  pass 
ing.  One  of  the  men  that  was  buried  had  had  his  arm  extended 
in  the  rigor  of  death  with  his  hand  spread  out  like  a  chicken's 
claws;  his  arm  now  stuck  through  the  dirt  covering,  that  was 
thrown  over  him,  and  reached  up  at  least  a  foot.  The  position 
might  have  been  caused  by  the  grim  humor  of  the  army  sexton. 
The  sight  was  ghastly  and  the  trenches  already  emitted  an  odor. 
We  would  have  passed  in  silence,  but  Bill  Huestis  spoke  up  and 
said,  "That  soldier  is  reaching  for  his  land  warrant."  We 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  279 

passed  a  two-story  log  cabin  with  a  porch  on  the  south  and  west ; 
it  had  no  fence.  On  the  porch  was  a  woman  in  a  pink  calico 
dress  walking  up  and  down  the  porch  in  a  frantic  manner, 
wringing  her  hands  and  screaming  loudly.  Three  little  girls 
were  hanging  on  to  her  dress  and  bawling  in  sympathy.  I 
never  forgot  that  scene.  I  never  heard  the  cause.  After  we 
had  marched  about  three  miles  we  came  to  where  the  road 
descended  to  a  deep  wide  valley  in  front  of  us.  Our  regiment 
was  put  in  position  at  right  angles  to  the  road,  and  looking 
clown  into  the  valley.  We  stayed  in  line  of  battle  for  about  an 
an  hour.  Other  regiments  were  drawn  up  behind  us.  We  could 
see  across  the  valley,  and  saw  the  woods  full  of  cavalry.  Down 
in  the  valley,  which  was  filled  with  trees,  we  saw  houses  and 
what  appeared  to  be  a  camp  and  a  lot  of  loose  horses.  All  at 
once  Totten  came  up  behind  us  with -two  guns  of  his  battery. 
We  could  hear  Totten  giving  orders:  "Take  that  limber  to  the 
rear,  G — d  d — n  you,  sir."  "Wheel  that  caisson  around,  G — d 
d — n  you,  sir."  All  at  once  our  bugle  said,  "Forward,"  and  we 
started  over  the  brow  of  the  hill  and  down  among  the  rocks 
and  brush.  We  went  at  a  "trail  arms"  and  in  quick  time,  our 
regimental  line  being  parallel  with  the  valley.  It  would  have 
been  called  a  bayonet  charge  if  anybody  had  waited  for  us  to 
catch  up  with  him.  There  was  a  large  store  in  the  valley, 
near  the  road,  called  McCulla's  store.  McCulla  had  been  a 
well-known  man  in  the  community  for  years,  and  a  very  promi 
nent  and  leading  citizen,  but  now  was  said  to  be  at  heart  a 
Union  man.  He  was  afterwards  a  Captain  in  a  notable  Union 


280  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

regiment;  the  Eighth  Missouri  Cavalry.  The  Confederate  camp 
was  near  the  store,  up  the  valley  a  little  distance.  It  happened 
to  be  in  the  path  of  our  company  and  we  ran  up  against  it. 
The  woods  were  quite  dense,  but  we  could  see  men  in  butter 
nut  clothes  tearing  through  the  brush  in  front  of  us.  A  halt 
was  sounded  as  our  regiment  reached  the  store  and  camp. 

As  we  marched  across  the  valley,  going  as  much  abreast  as 
the  conformation  of  the  ground  would  permit,  in  our  charge 
upon  the  camp,  Totten  fired  his  guns,  loaded  with  shrapnel 
shells,  right  over  our  heads.  They  would  burst  about  100  feet 
in  front  of  us  and  about  25  feet  above  us.  We  were  very  liter 
ally  under  fire,  and  we  did  not  like  to  have  it  done,  because  of 
our  ignorance  of  ballistics.  We  thought  we  were  in  great  dan 
ger  from  the  explosion  of  the  shells,  but,  as  it  was  afterwards 
explained  to  us,  we  were  not.  The  forward  motion  of  the  shell 
was  so  great  that  it  was  not  overcome  by  the  explosive  force 
of  the  bursting  charge  of  the  shell.  The  pieces  of  the  shell 
wrhen  it  burst  went  right  on.  The  shell  burst  and  went  on  in 
the  form  of  a  tulip.  The  way  those  shells  we  re  made  was  that 
they  were  about  a  half-inch  thick,  with  a  circular  inch  hole. 
The  shell  was  filled  with  lead  bullets,  and  then  liquid  rosin  or 
sulphur  was  poured  in  and  left  to  cool.  The  hole  was  then 
bored  out  down  in  the  shell  through  the  bullets,  making  an  inch- 
round  space  across  the  interior  of  the  shell.  This  space  was 
filled  with  black  gunpowder  and  a  fuse  plug  screwed  in,  with 
second-marks  on  the  outside,  called  a  Bohrman  fuse.  The  ex 
plosion  of  the  shell  was  loud  enough,  and,  when  in  the  wray  of  it, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  281 


it  was  dangerous.  After  the  explosion  the  smoke  from  the  shell 
held  together  in  a  little  viscid,  compact  cloud  that  might  float 
around  in  the  air  for  half  an  hour  without  dissolving. 

The  secesh  camp  was  a  long  shelter  made  out  of  rough  oak 
boards  from  a  country  sawmill.  The  shelter  was  somewhat 
open,  but  able  to  shod  water.  We  stopped,  re-formed  our  line, 
and  dashed  into  the  camp.  There  were  piles  of  forage,  stacks 
of  oats  and  corn  and  corn-blades.  Lots  of  home-cured  pork 
and  jerked  beef.  There  was  a  great  pile  of  hogs'  heads,  smoked 
and  cured;  they  called  them  " jowls."  There  wore  a  few  hats 
and  shoos  and  socks;  I  got  two  of  each  and  a  jowl.  In  prying 
around  I  removed  some  sheaf  oats  from  a  box,  and  on  turning 
over  the  lid  I  found  a  big  stone  jar  with  something  like  a  white 
thick  fluid.  I  thought  it  was  buttermilk,  and  dipped  in  my 
tin  cup;  it  was  half-melted  lard;  it  came  near  turning  me 
wrong  side  out,  but  I  called  the  boys  and  gave  them  all  a  chance 
to  get  a  sip  of  it.  One  sample  was  enough  for  a  boy,  but  they 
all  sampled  it  and  fought  for  the  privilege.  No  one  gave  the 
cue  and  the  lard  was  mostly  all  sampled.  As  a  novelist  would 
say,  ult  was  a  scene  long  to  be  remembered."  All  this  took 
us  about  fifteen  minutes,  during  which  we  filled  our  canteens. 
Then,  on  command  of  bugle,  we  formed  a  line  and  marched  up 
toward  the  brow  of  the  south  side  of  the  valley.  Secesh  who 
were  concealed  in  the  brush  kept  jumping  up  and  running. 
We  ran  and  caught  several;  Little  Baldy  got  two  at  once, 
both  bigger  than  he  was.  lie  kept  them  both.  We  went  up 
to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  having  crossed  the  valley,  arid  were 


282  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

halted;  then  we  marched  by  the  left  flank  and  formed  across 
the  road  south  of  the  store  as  if  to  repel  an  attack  of  the  enemy 
coming  down  the  road  from  the  hill  south  of  us.  Our  company 
was  immediately  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  and  the  farthest 
south.  General  Lyon  came  down  the  road  from  the  north  all 
alone  on  horseback,  and  went  past;  we  gave  him  a  salute  by 
present  arms  as  he  went  by.  He  had  not  gone  over  fifty  yards 
south  of  us  in  his  rcconnoissance  when  he  started  back,  rather 
fast  and  looking  over  his  shoulder.  We  all  rose  up,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  the  head  of  a  company  of  about  150  butternut 
cavalry  appeared  coming  down  towards  us  in  unconscious  dis 
order,  armed  with  rifles  and  shotguns,  and  entirely  off  their 
guard.  Lyon  rode  up  to  the  end  of  our  line  and  shouted  at 
them.  "Who  are  you?"  No  answer.  "Who  are  you?"  shouted 
Lyon  again.  They  were  within  a  hundred  yards.  At  the 
second  call  the  leader  shouted  something,  and  dropping  a 
beautiful  double-barreled  shotgun  darted  into  the  woods  as 
he  and  the  balance  all  turned  tail  with  wonderful  rapidity,  not 
firing  a  gun.  "Fire!"  said  Lyon.  We  got  up  our  guns  and 
blazed  away  into  the  woods,  but  not  a  man  did  we  get.  We 
could  hear  them  bobbing  through  the  timber  shouting  and 
yelling,  and  getting  away  from  us  in  good  shape.  Lyon  was 
much  disgusted ;  he  slapped  himself  on  the  leg,  and  then  pulled 
his  chin- whiskers,  as  was  his  wont  when  he  was  thinking,  and 
said  in  a  sarcastic  way,  "Well,  I  could  do  better  than  that  if 
I  was  you."  His  anger  was  worse  than  his  grammar.  Miles 
of  our  company,  whom  we  called  "Paddy  Miles's  boy,"  went 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  283 


out  and  got  the  fine  shotgun  that  the  captain  had  dropped, 
and  we  got  a  lot  more  of  them  that  were  dropped  in  the  flight, 
and  we  bent  them  around  trees.  Miles  got  the  finest  gun  and 
carried  it  as  a  trophy,  and  I  believe  back  to  Iowa  with  him.  I 
afterwards  told  this  story  to  a  person  down  in  that  neighbor 
hood,  and  he  told  me  that  the  captain  who  lost  the  fine  "stub- 
and-twist"  shotgun  was  named  Jarvis  Barker,  and  that  it  was 
always  a  good  joke  on  him;  and  further,  that  Barker  was  just 
getting  in  with  a  reinforcement  from  the  East,  and  in  great 
haste,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  presence  of  the  Federal  troops. 
Another  regiment  came  up  and  relieved  us  and  went  up  onto 
the  hill  south  of  us  while  we  went  down  to  near  the  store.  I  got 
permission  to  go  over  to  the  store ;  I  wanted  to  see  if  anything 
was  left  that  nobody  wanted.  I  saw  a  log  that  I  suspected  of 
having  some  "boot-heel"  in;  I  got  an  axe,  and  found  my  sus 
picions  confirmed.  I  was  going  back  with  an  armful  when  an 
officer  stopped  me  and  took  it  away  all  but  one  plug,  and  ordered 
me  to  go  to  drawing  water  at  the  well.  The  way  was  this : 
In  front  of  the  store  was  a  large  well  with  a  canopy  top;  it  was 
only  about  six  feet  down  to  the  water;  there  were  two  well- 
buckets  ;  the  men  were  quarreling  for  the  water  and  -trying  to 
fill  their  canteens.  This  officer  made  me  and  another  soldier 
get  inside  the  \vell-curb  and  go  to  pulling  up  water  just  as  fast 
as  we  could  and  pouring  it  into  camp-kettles,  mess-pans  and  all 
kinds  of  receptacles,  so  that  the  soldiers  could  all  get  sonic  of 
it.  I  was  kept  in  that  well-curb  three  hours,  and  was  sopping 
wet,  and  lost  my  "boot-heel"  besides.  When  I  was  at  last  re- 


284  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

licved  I  found  that  some  one  had  got  off  with  the  jowl  that  I 
had  carried  stuck  onto  my  bayonet  and  confided  to  my  mess. 
I  found  my  shoes  all  right  without  socks  but  too  tight  with  them ; 
so  I  gave  the  socks  away.  There  was  a  round  Dutch  bake- 
oven  that  I  took  a  fancy  to  in  the  camp,  and  I  went  and  got  it. 
It  weighed  about  twenty  pounds,  and  when  in  the  evening  we 
moved  up  the  hill  toward  the  enemy  to  make  our  camp  in  front 
of  them  I  took  it  along.  I  will  never  forget  that  night.  We 
built  a  large  number  of  bogus  camp-fires  to  fool  the  enemy 
with;  details  were  out  chopping  trees  and  building  fires  all 
night,  while  to  the  south  of  us  and  west  of  us  the  sky  looked  as 
if  there  were  twenty  miles  of  camp-fires ,—  and  I  guess  there 
were.  There  was  firing  on  the  pickets  all  night;  the  enemy 
evidently  intended  that  we  should  not  sleep  and  they  did  not 
intend  either  that  we  should  have  a  fight.  They  yielded  wher 
ever  we  pushed  them,  and  they  followed  back  every  push  with 
a  push  of  their  own.  That  night  they  rode  all  around  us;  we 
were  in  a  semi-fortified  position  and  also  in  a  state  of  siege. 
We  and  the  Kansas  regiments  were  camped  all  together  in  close 
parallel  lines. 

My  bake-oven  was  the  admiration  of  the  mess  and  of  the 
Kansas  men  near  us.  Corpular  Mace  made  ulob-scouse';  in  it, 
which  was  a  combination  of  hard-tack,  bacon  and  beef.  The 
wind  blew  strongly  through  the  woods  all  night,  and  we  slept 
as  much  as  we  could  and  looked  up  among  the  stars  and  leaves 
overhead  and  wondered  if  we  would  get  mustered  out  by  a  bullet 
or  by  a  Government  officer. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  285 

Medulla's  store  was  in  the  township  forming  the  northwest 
corner  of  Stone  county,  Mo.,  being  in  Township  26,  Range  24. 
I  think  the  stream  was  a  part  of  Crane  creek,  and  that  the  pres 
ent  town  of  Curran  may  be  near  the  spot. 


CHAPTER  27. 

August  4th. — Loss  of  the  Bake-oven. — The  Return. — Intense  Heat. — 
Killed  and  Wounded. — Captured. — Dog  Springs. — Medulla's  Store. — • 
Disappointment. — Lyon's  Letter. — Rains's  Report. — Mclntosh's  Re 
port. — Price's  Report. — The  Return  to  Springfield. — Night-firing. — 
August  5th.— The  March.— The  Cracker-barrel.— The  Dust.— Contro 
versy  with  Lyon. — The  New  Musket. — Watch  Trade. — "  Orphan." — Au 
gust  6th. — Camp  near  Phelps. — New  Pants. — Term  of  Service. — Lyon 
Cross  and  Petulant. — Refugees. — Caravan  to  Rolla. 

On  August  Fourth  we  were  up  as  soon  as  it  was  light  enough 
to  see.  We  had  a  good  hearty  breakfast  and  drew  up  in  line, 
and  at  six  o'clock  were  ready  for  the  march  and  were  packing 
the  company  wagon,  when  a  trick  that  I  cannot  forget  or  for 
give  was  perpetrated  by  the  Second  Kansas  on  me.  Our  com 
pany  was  camped  about  150  feet  from  the  Second  Kansas,  and, 
on  ground  at  that  part  of  the  line,  about  25  feet  higher.  Four 
Kansas  boys  did  this:  Two  of  them  at  some  distance  from  us 
walked  up  along  our  regiment,  stopping  at  each  camp-fire; 
another  came  up  to  me  and  told  me  that  General  Lyon  was 
very  angry  at  the  stealing  done  by  the  soldiers,  and  that  all 
captured  stuff  would  be  turned  over  to  the  quartermaster,  and 
the  person  in  whose  hands  any  of  it  was  found  would  be  dis 
honorably  discharged  with  loss  of  pay.  He  pointed  down  the 
lines  and  said:  " There  are  two  men  coming  this  way;  they 
have  been  detailed  to  look  for  stolen  property.  Where  did 
you  get  that  bakc-oven?  Better  roll  it  down  hill."  I  pro 
ceeded  to  roll  it.  The  two  men  passed  our  camp-fire  while  man 

(286) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  287 

number  four  down  the  hill  caught  the  rolling  bake-oven  and  put 
it  into  his  company  wagon  and  I  lost  it. 

We  started  back  to  Springfield;  no  enemy  in  sight.  We  had 
an  infantry  and  cavalry  advance  guard  going  back.  The  wagons 
next,  the  artillery  next,  and  the  heft  of  the  army  in  the  rear 
guard.  Our  company  was  put  in  front.  There  were  no  cavalry 
in  front  of  us.  We  started  back  feeling  that  our  expedition 
had  been  a  failure,  but  not  knowing  why.  We  marched  slowly 
and  compactly.  The  weather  was  intensely  hot,  and  we  suf 
fered  a  good  deal  from  heat  and  want  of  water.  The  ther 
mometer  was  about  105  in  the  shade.  I  will  stop  here  to  look 
back  at  the  trip.  It  was  a  failure.  We  lost  on  the  expedition, 
first  and  last,  about  10  men  killed,  about  25  wounded,  and 
about  20  disabled  or  killed  by  sunstroke  on  the  road  back  to 
Springfield.  Of  the  enemy,  including  spies  and  pick-ups,  there 
were  about  125  captured;  of  our  men  there  were  probably  25 
stragglers  captured;  they  were  men  that  gave  out  in  the  rear 
guard  that  could  not  be  saved.  Of  the  enemy  there  were  prob 
ably  50  killed  and  125  wounded.  The  reports  of  the  times 
that  there  were  175  of  the  enemy  killed,  and  a  good  many  more 
wounded,  were  not  probably  near  the  truth.  Our  artillery 
and  the  cavalry  charge  did  most  of  the  damage.  The  first 
day's  fight  was  called  the  battle  of  "Dug  Springs";  the  second 
day's  fight,  the  battle  of  "McCulla's  Store."  General  Lyon 
was  disappointed  that  he  could  not  get  a  battle  that  would  de 
cide  something.  He  saw  during  the  two  days,  first  and  last, 
perhaps  three  or  four  thousand  of  the  enemy,  with  more  behind 


288  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

them,  but  they  were  too  wise  to  hazard  a  battle  or  let  him  have 
any  advantage.  They  kept  just  out  of  his  way,  and  the  mo 
ment  he  started  back  they  closed  right  up  to  him  and  took  in 
every  broken-down  team  and  straggler.  They  were  wise,  and 
played  the  game  right.  In  a  letter  which  Lyon  wrote  from 
McCulla's  Store  on  August  4th  he  said : 

"Prudence  seems  to  indicate  now  the  necessity  of  withdraw 
ing,  if  possible,  from  the  country ,  and  falling  upon  either  St. 
Louis  or  Kansas. 

"In  fact,  I  am  under  the  painful  necessity  of  retreating,  and 
can  at  most  only  hope  to  make  my  retreat  good.  I  am  in  too 
great  haste  to  explain  at  length  more  fully.  I  have  given  timely 
notice  of  my  danger,  and  can  only  in  the  worst  emergencies  sub 
mit  to  them." 

The  foregoing  was  written  in  the  morning  as  we  were  about  to 
return,  and  was  directed  to  Headquarters  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

General  Rains,  in  his  official  report,  among  other  things  says : 

"The  enemy,  reinforced  by  the  regular  United  States  Cavalry, 
renewed  the  attack  on  Colonel  Craven's  command,  when  the 
conflict  became  severe  and  hand-to-hand.  I  then  took  the 
remaining  portion  of  the;  [advance]  guard  with  the  view  of 
cutting  off  the  attacking  party  on  the  right,  when,  on  reaching 
them,  the  enemy  opened  upon  us  with  two  batteries  [guns], 
dispersing  the  mounted  men,  a  portion  of  whom  became  panic- 
stricken  and  retired  in  the  utmost  confusion.  I  had  been  led 
to  expect  reinforcements  of  infantry  and  artillery  at  McCulla's 
Spring,  and  not  rinding  any,  fell  back,  in  accordance  with  in 
structions,  to  the  main  army.  ...  I  cannot  speak  too 
highly  of  the  gallantry  of  the  officers  and  men,  particularly  that 
portion  who  acted  as  infantry." 

The  foregoing  was  written  on  the  morning  of  the  second  day, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  289 

August  3d.     After  falling  back  on  the  army,  it,  when  confronted 
by  Lyon,  did  not  see  proper  to  fight. 

Upon  August  3d,  and  before  the  fighting  of  that  day,  Captain 
Mclntosh,  adjutant-general  of  the  commanding  officer,  General 
McCullough,  made  a  report,  a  very  brief  one,  to  his  command 
ing  officer,  he  says : 

11  GENERAL:  I  was  sent  forward  yesterday  by  your  order  with 
150  men  to  ascertain  the  position  of  the  enemy.  .  .  .  When 
about  three  miles  from  your  camp  the  command  of  General 
Rains,  as  I  expected,  came  down  upon  us  in  full  flight  and  in 
the  greatest  confusion.  I  drew  up  my  men  across  the  road  and 
rallied  the  greater  portion  of  them  and  sent  them  on  in  regular 
order.  General  Rains  had  engaged  the  enemy  unadvisedly, 
and  had  sent  for  my  small  command  to  reinforce  him,  which  I 
respectfully  declined,  having  no  disposition  to  sacrifice  it  in  such 
company." 

This  shows  the  feuds  and  contentions  that  racked  the  Con 
federate  service,  at  this  time,  and  did  much  to  embarrass  its 
efforts.  Rains  never  amounted  to  much.  Mclntosh  was  partic 
ular  about  his  " company."  He  became  a  General,  and  was 
killed  in  less  than  six  months  afterwards  at  the  battle  of  Pea 
Ridge. 

General  Price,  in  his  report  to  the  Governor  of  Missouri  (who 
was  at  that  time  somewhere  around  in  the  brush),  says: 

"General  Rains  soon  discovered,  however,  that  he  was  in 
presence  of  the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  numbering,  according 
to  his  estimate,  more  than  5000  men,  with  eight  pieces  of  ar 
tillery,  and  supported  by  a  considerable  body  of  cavalry.  A 
severe  skirmish  ensued,  which  lasted  several  hours,  until  the 
enemy  opened  their  batteries,  and  compelled  our  troops  to  re- 


290  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


tire.  In  this  engagement  the  greater  portion  of  General  Rains's 
command,  and  especially  that  part  which  acted  as  infantry, 
behaved  with  great  gallantry,  as  the  result  demonstrates,  for  our 
loss  was  only  one  killed  and  five  wounded." 

Of  such  stuff  is  history  made ;  that  is  to  say;  the  rebel  official 
report  says  that  they  had  650  men  and  held  us  off  with  "great 
gallantry"  for  five  hours,  and  then  they  fled  in  confusion  with 
the  loss  of  only  one  man  killed.  No.  They  were  lots  braver 
than  that.  My  observation  is  that  when  Confederates  behaved 
with  great  gallantry  they  did  not  gig  back  until  more  than  one 
of  them  was  killed ! 

On  August  4th  we  made,  on  our  return  to  Springfield,  only 
about  twelve  .miles.  We  were  all  very  tired.  It  is  a  good  deal 
of  a  strain,  being  in  line  of  battle  and  hunting  or  expecting  an 
enemy  all  day.  Besides  this,  as  we  were  on  the  return  we  had 
to  flank  through  the  hills  and  brush  to  prevent  an  ambuscade 
or  a  surprise,  or  to  insure  against  a  cavalry  dash  from  the  sides. 
At  evening  we  camped  on  a  little  stream;  our  company  was 
near  a  deserted  house.  We  encamped  in  a  cabbage-patch  from 
which  all  the  young  cabbages  had  been  taken  by  those  in  front 
of  us.  Guthrie's  mule  had  been  helping  boys  all  day,  and 
was  permitted  to  eat  up  all  of  the  cabbage  plants  that  were 
left.  Some  poor  woman,  perhaps,  had  worked  hard  to  set 
them  out  in  the  spring.  The  mule  cleaned  up  the  patch.  Our 
pickets  were  being  fired  on  all  night,  and  we  were  quite  nervous 
lest  it  would  become  a  battle  before  morning,  but  it  did  not. 
As  dawn  came  the  firing  ceased.  Our  cavalry  and  artillery 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  291 

ate  up  a  large  cornfield  that  night,  and  we  got  a  lot  of  roasting- 
cars.  A  small  stack  of  sheaf  wheat  was  loaded  into  some  of 
the  empty  wagons  and  hauled  along.  The  two  most  nervous 
men  in  the  outfit  were  General  Lyon  and  Corpular  Mace;  they 
each  had  everything  to  lose.  McCulla's  store  was  afterwards 
burned  by  the  secesh. 

On  August  5th  we  were  up  bright  and  early;  we  started 
marching  about  5  A.  M.  It  was  found  necessary  to  reinforce 
the  wagons  against  a  possible  attack,  and  men  were  detailed 
from  each  company  as  a  wagon  guard.  I  was  detailed  on  such 
guard.  I  did  not  like  it  any.  The  dust  was  thick  and  almost 
intolerable;  it  filled  the  air  with  a  yellow-brown  haze.  We  got 
our  eyes,  ears  and  mouths  full  of  it.  The  horses  suffered,  and 
the  drivers  suffered  most  of  all.  We  of  the  infantry  could  march 
at  times  through  the  woods  on  the  side,  but  the  drivers  had  to 
stay  with  their  teams  in  the  road  and  suffer;  at  times  we  had 
to  spell  them  a  little,  or  they  would  give  out.  Lyon  was  in 
the  rear,  where  trouble  was  apprehended.  About  noon  the 
column  had  for  some  cause  briefly  halted,  and  I  climbed  onto 
our  company  wagon  and  dove  down  into  a  cracker-barrel  for 
something  to  eat.  The  wagon-cover  was  off  and  rolled  up  on 
the  driver's  seat.  The  barrel  was  nearly  empty.  "What  the 
hell  are  you  doing  in  there?"  I  heard  shouted  at  me.  I  looked 
up;  it  was  Lyon.  I  said,  "Getting  something  to  cat.'7  He 
said,  "Get  out  of  there.  Where's  your  company?"  I  said, 
"On  ahead."  "Trail  arms  and  double-quick  to  your  company 
— Go!"  said  he.  I  started,  and  in  a  little  while  he  passed  me 


292  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

on  his  horse,  and  as  the  command  was  not  moving  I  soon  caught 
up  with  my  company.  I  was  very  glad  to  be  officially  relieved 
of  guard  duty  with  the  wagons,  but  did  not  like  Lyon's  style. 
I  thought  he  was  wasting  too  much  time  on  details.  Besides, 
I  considered  it  unjust  and  unreasonable.  There  was  too  much 
of  the  regular  army  in  it.  I  told  the  boys,  and  it  increased  the 
general  dislike  for  Lyon;  especially  was  the  whole  thing  un 
graceful  as  our  time  was  out  and  we  were  serving  part  on  honor 
and  part  on  compulsion.  This  incident  was  illustrative  of 
Lyon.  He  was  always  looking  around  for  something  wrong, 
or  hunting  trouble.  Huestis  called  him  athe  little  red-headed 
cuss." 

I  caught  up  with  my  company;  a  detachment  of  regulars 
was  in  front  of  us,  arid  one  of  the  Kansas  regiments.  While 
marching  along  we  passed  off  to  the  left,  in  a  valley,  a  large 
spring-house:  several  soldiers  ran  in  to  fill  their  canteens. 
Ahead  of  me  rushed  a  regular  army  soldier  with  his  polished 
new  Springfield  rifled  musket,  and  standing  it  up  against  the 
side  of  the  log  wall  he  went  in  to  get  a  drink.  The  position 
which  he  chose  for  his  gun  was  not  altogether  satisfactory  to 
me,  and  so  I  moved  it  off  about  four  feet  and  placed  my  polished 
gun  in  its  place  and  went  in  to  fill  my  canteen.  What  do  you 
suppose  that  regular  army  soldier  did?  Why,  he  rushed  out  of 
that  spring-house  and  without  saying  a  word  he  just  picked  up 
"Silver  Sue"  and  ran  off  with  her.  It  was  one  of  the  coolest 
pieces  of  robbery  that  I  ever  saw,  and  being  at  the  spring-house 
made  it  cooler.  He  ran  on  and  disappeared  in  the  dust.  There 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  293 


was  no  alternative  for  me — I  had  to  take  the  only  gun  that  was 
left.  I  smothered  my  indignation  and  also  disappeared  in  the 
cloud  of  dust.  That  evening  I  traded  my  silver  watch  that 
had  boon  on  a  strike1  for  some  time  to  a  regular  for  two  pack 
ages  of  ammunition — 80  rounds,  that  would  fit  my  new  gun, 
which  I  called  "Orphan."  "Orphan"  was  a  Springfield  rifle 
musket  stamped  1861,  probably  made1  about  March  or  April 
of  that  year.  I  called  it  "Orphan"  because  it  had  been  so 
cruelly  deserted.  We  reached  Springfield  about  sundown,  and 
camped  out  on  the  edge  of  town.  The  Dug  Springs  expedition 
was  a  failure,  and  we  all  felt  it;  but  it  gave  us  great  confidence 
in  the  regular  army  officers.  With  a  few  exceptions  they 
proved  to  be  a  superb  lot  of  men.  They  showed  up  full  of 
vigor,  and  bravery,  and  devotion  to  duty.  From  now  on  our 
admiration  increased.  The  more  we  saw  of  them  the  more 
we  liked  them,  except  perhaps  as  to  Lyon, — we  did  not  like 
him,  but  had  great  confidence  in  him.  Most  of  these  regular 
army  officers  became  generals  during  the  war,  made  fine  repu 
tations,  and  deserved  all  they  got. 

Wo  oxpoctod  now  to  be  discharged.  I  wanted  to  go  home 
and  take  "Orphan"  with  me. 

On  August  6th  we  were  up  bright  and  early.  We  were  not  in 
the  place  where  we  were  when  we  went  into  camp  at  night ; 
about  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  wo  had  been  quietly  waked  up 
and  had  changed  our  camp  by  coming  nearer  into  town,  and 
drawn  up  in  line,  whom  we  slept  the  balance  of  the  night  hugging 
our  guns.  Our  company  was  near  a  large  house  and  garden 


294  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

which  turned  out  to  be  the  property  of  Congressman  Phelps, 
of  whom  I  have  spoken. 

In  the  morning  about  daylight  a  large  six-mule  Government 
wagon  drove  past  us  and  threw  out  on  the  ground  a  lot  of  large 
loaves  of  fresh  bread.  We  got  drinking-water  at  the  well  at 
Phelps 's  house.  Corpular  Mace  turned  up  this  morning  the  best 
dressed  man  in  the  company;  he  had  been  out  all  night,  and 
came  back  with  a  white  shirt,  blue  blouse,  genteel  cap,  and  a 
necktie;  also  a  saddle  for  Guthrie's  mule.  I  went  to  him  and 
told  him  that  I  wanted  a  pair  of  winter  pants  with  heavy  lining. 
He  said,  "I  can  gctum  sho."  He  turned  up  with  them  that 
afternoon.  I  rather  imagined  that  some  secesh  family  had 
skipped  out  and  left  their  stuff  in  charge  of  their  slaves,  but  I 
did  not  find  out.  We  changed  position  twice  around  Spring 
field  during  the  day.  A  few  shoes  and  hats  were  issued,  but  I 
needed  neither.  In  the  afternoon  I  took  time  to  fix  up  my 
new  pants.  They  were  of  a  slate-gray  color,  and  just  what  I 
wanted.  I  cut  the  outside  cloth  off  from  the  legs  as  before, 
leaving  the  lining  and  two  inches  at  the  seams,  which  I  snipped 
across  and  made  into  a  neat  fringe  as  in  my  last  pair.  I  did  not 
attack  the  pants  in  the  rear,  as  the  enemy  had  tried  to  do  with 
us,  but  left  the  original  cloth  as  a  reinforcement.  I  shortened 
them  about  four  inches,  split  them  up  four  inches  at  the  bottom 
and  put  in  shoestrings.  I  was  now  ready  to  march  anywhere. 

Couriers  were  dashing  around  all  day,  and  we  could  hear 
drum-beats  and  bugle-calls,  and  see  soldiers  marching  at  all 
hours.  Lyon  had  been  rather  doubtful  as  to  what  he  ought  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  295 

do  with  us,  and  as  to  whether  we  would  stay  any  longer.  The 
term  of  other  companies  and  regiments  wras  also  about  to  expire 
as  ours  had  expired.  Matters  got  into  about  this  shape,  that 
if  we  would  stay  he  could  have  a  battle  and  if  we  would  not  that 
a  retreat  was  necessary.  Another  point  was  sprung  on  us,  viz., 
that  we  had  enlisted  for  three  months  to  serve  from  the  time  we 
were  accepted  by  the  United  States.  This  point  was  untenable ; 
enlistment  and  muster-in  were  two  different  things.  The  point 
was  not  sprung  upon  us  until  late  in  the  game.  We  talked 
it  all  over,  and  the  Lieutenant  talked  it  all  over  with  us  at  a 
company  meeting.  Something  had  to  be  done.  There  was 
almost  a  mutiny  over  the  food  and  clothing  and  the  want  of 
shelter  from  the  sun.  The  sun  was  now  our  great  burden.  Our 
company  did  not  have  over  70  men  for  duty.  We  finally  de 
cided  and  voted  that  if  we  were  going  to  have  a  fight  we  would 
stay,  and  if  no  fight,  no  stay.  We  felt  that  we  would  not  spoil 
a  fight  if  there  was  a  show  for  one ;  we  did  not  want  to  take 
the  responsibility  of  a  retreat  and  did  not  want  to  march  off  to 
the  sound  of  booming  cannon  in  our  rear.  Our  officers  reported 
to  Lyon  that  we  wanted  a  fight  and  would  stay.  Lyon  is  re 
ported  to  have  said  that  he  was  glad  to  hear  it;  that  it  was 
our  duty  to  stay  anyhow,  and  that  the  Government  did  not 
have  to  discharge  a  soldier  until  it  got  ready.  That  idea 
leaked  out  among  the  men  and  made  them  very  angry.  Lyon 
had  given  our  regiment  no  recognition  for  patriotism  or  duty 
and  had  put  it  on  entirely  different  grounds;  that  is,  we  had 


296  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

to  stay  if  he  said  so.  Of  course  if  we  marched  off  he  could  not 
have  the  fight,  but  his  idea  was  that  we  were  just  machines 
and  had  no  right  to  do  any  thinking.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
did  not  dare  to  go  home  and  have  any  question  pending  as  to 
our  services,  or  the  military  propriety  of  our  acts.  Hence  we 
did  not  like  Lyon,  and  wanted  to  have  the  thing  ended  and 
over  with,  and  if  we  were  to  have  a  fight  we  wanted  it  quick. 
That  night  we  were  marched  out  of  town  to  some  timber,  as  if 
we  were  to  be  there  in  ambuscade.  We  laid  down  in  line  of 
battle,  hugging  our  guns. 

During  August  6th  we  had  noticed  a  perfect  panic  going  on 
around  us  among  the  civilians.  Thousands  of  people  were 
flocking  into  Springfield  from  east,  west,  and  south.  It  seemed 
that  all  those  with  Union  sentiments  were  coming  in  so  as  to  be 
protected  in  their  flight  north.  If  Lyon  had  been  provided 
with  supplies  he  could  have  organized  and  armed  several  reg 
iments;  but  he  was  powerless;  he  had  been  abandoned  by  his 
superiors  to  his  fate.  We  could  not  see  where  we  had  any  show 
even  if  we  did  have  a  fight.  The  refugees  came  in  all  sorts  of 
rigs,  horses,  mules,  and  oxen.  They  all  told  the  same  story  of 
the  great  number  of  the  enemy  and  how  their  cavalry  was  eating 
up  the  country.  These  people  were  mostly  armed  with  shot 
guns  and  rifles,  and  finally  a  great  caravan  of  them  started  for 
Holla,  under  a  sort  of  military  organization  of  their  own,  taking 
with  them  a  lot  of  Springfield  people;  also  sick  and  invalided 
officers  and  soldiers.  The  city  and  camps  were  of  course  full 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  297 

of  spies,  and  so  Lyon  had  to  keep  us  in  motion  and  continually 
change  our  locations.  We  had  full  rations  of  meat,  bread  and 
coffee,  but  it  was  not  enough,  because  other  portions  of  the  ra 
tion  were  left  out. 


CHAPTER  28. 

August  7th. — Change  of  Camp. — Mrs.  Phelps. — Made  Corporal. — On 
Picket. — Capture  a  Spy. — August  8th. — Boiling  Clothes. — Chiggers. — 
Wood-ticks. — Treatment  for  Insects. — Supply  Train. — Three  Armies. — 
Wilson  Creek. — Shoes  and  Love  Letters. — Plan  of  Retreat. — Lyon's 
Speech. — The  Enemy's  Camp-fires. — August  9th. — Fight  for  Water.— 
Gift  of  Tobacco.— On  Eve  of  Battle.— Picket-fighting.— Our  Regi 
mental  Officers. — The  Colonel. — The  Lieutenant-Colonel. — The  Major. 
— Our  First  Lieutenant. — Jo  Utter. 

On  August  Seventh  we  Changed  Places  three  times.  AVe 
came  in  at  dawn  to  the  Phelps  place,  then  marched  out  to  the 
south,  then  back  and  out  to  the  west,  then  back  to  the  Phelps 
place,  where  we  arrived  about  5  P.  M.  Mrs.  Phelps  came  out  to 
our  company  with  a  basket  of  tomatoes  carried  by  a  colored 
woman.  Mrs.  Phelps  was  a  very  sympathetic  woman,  and  we 
all  liked  her  very  much.  Here  Corporal  Churubusco  was  taken 
with  something,  and  she  had  him  removed  to  a  cool  place  on 
her  porch,  and  the  surgeon  visited  him  there.  This  evening  the 
Lieutenant  sent  for  me  and  said  he  wanted  me  to  act  as  corporal, 
in  the  place  of  " Churubusco.''  I  was  much  pleased.  In  about 
an  hour  I  was  detailed  with  twelve  men  to  go  out  on  picket,  with 
another  detail  under  Lieut.  Pursell,  an  officer  from  Company 
"C."  We  marched  out  about  two  miles  south  of  Springfield, 
to  a  place  where  two  large  fields  of  corn  cornered.  They  were 
probably  the  northeast  and  southwest  quarters  of  a  congressional 
section.  They  had  high  rail  fences  around  them  and  the  country 
road  ran  between  the  corners.  Looking  south  about  a  quar- 

(298); 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  299 

tor  of  a  mile  the  forest  began,  with  prairie  between,  on  which 
there  appeared  here  and  there  an  occasional  low  bush.  The 
officer  posted  me  at  this  place  with  the  twelve  men  and  took 
the  balance  off  somewhere  else4.  He  told  me  where  there  would 
be  a  company  of  infantry,  far  in  the  rear,  to  rally  on ;  and  for  me 
to  hold  the  post  as  long  and  hard  as  I  could,  so  as  to  give  those 
on  the  inside  time  to  prepare  a  repulse.  I  felt  the  responsibility 
of  the  command;  I  saw  what  a  great  thing  it  was  to  be  a  cor 
poral:  and  the  first  thing  that  we  did  was  to  build  a  rail  fence 
across  the  road,  with  a  little  gap  at  the  end  so  that  we  could  go 
in  and  out.  Then  we  made  a  glacis  out  of  the  fence  by  piling 
slanting  rails  down  the  outside  of  the  center  so.  as  to  make  it 
bullet-proof  for  us.  There  was  a  very  bright  starlight.  I  sent 
out  a  man  to  crawl  from  bush  to  bush  in  front  of  us  to  see  if  he 
could  discover  anything  in  the  woods  beyond.  At  about  mid 
night  he  came  back  with  the  information  that  there  were  a  lot  of 
horsemen  in  the  woods.  After  that  in  the  bright  starlight  we 
could  see  shadows  come  and  go  indistinctly  in  the  woods.  About 
2  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  saw  a  line  of  cavalry  deployed  in 
front  of  us,  in  the  dim  starlight;  it  appeared  unexpectedly. 
We  had  not  seen  it  form,  nor  had  we  heard  it.  All  at  once  one 
of  the  boys  had  said,  "Is  not  that  a  line  of  horsemen?"  We 
strained  our  eyes  and  there  in  front  of  us  was  in  fact  a  line  of 
horsemen  standing  perfectly  still;  about  25  men  deployed  at 
about  100  feet  apart.  As  we  looked  we  saw  a  man  about  50 
feet  in  front  of  their  line,  holding  a  white  horse.  We  had 
muzzle-loading  guns;  if  we  fired  they  could  be  onto  us  before 


300  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

we  could  reload,  and  we  must  rely  on  the  bayonet;  we  expected 
them  to  make  a  dash.  If  they  did,  we  could  get  at  least  half  a 
dozen  of  them.  One  of  my  men,  being  under  somewhat  of  a 
strain,  yelled,  "Come  on!"  I  chugged  the  man  with  the  butt 
of  my  musket,  and  when  I  looked  again  the  line  was  gone,  and 
nothing  was  before  us  but  dark  empty  space.  We  were  then 
afraid  of  being  surrounded,  and  I  sent  a  man  out  into  the  corn 
field  on  each  side  to  listen  for  anyone  riding  through  the  corn. 
Things  had  quieted  down  and  we  were  waiting,  when  all  at  once 
a  horseman  appeared  in  front  of  us.  We  halted  him  and  took 
him  in.  He  would  not  talk  or  answer  any  questions.  He  had 
two  revolvers;  we  took  them  away,  and  tied  his  hands  behind 
him  with  my  big  silk  bandana  which  I  had  got  from  the  chap 
lain  at  Forsyth.  Then  we  tied  his  feet  together  with  a  gun- 
sling  and  put  a  man  over  him  with  a  bayonet,  to  see  that  he  did 
not  run  away.  The  prisoner  was  soon  sleeping  like  a  log.  In  a 
couple  of  hours,  at  dawn,  we  were  relieved  and  went  in  to  camp. 
The  prisoner  was  marched  before  a  bayonet,  and  I,  being  an 
officer  of  high  rank,  rode  his  horse.  He  would  not  talk.  I  was 
a  conspicuous  military  figure  then  as  I  marched  the  prisoner  to 
headquarters.  An  officer  came  out,  looked  at  the  prisoner  and 
then  at  me,  told  the  guard  to  untie  the  man  and  told  me  to  dis 
mount,  then  ordered  me  to  take  my  men  to  my  company  quar 
ters,  which  I  did.  I  was  a  good  deal  puzzled  at  the  reception 
I  got  at  headquarters,  and  wondered  why  they  did  not  pat  me  on 
the  back  and  call  me  a  hero  of  some  kind.  I  afterwards  found 
out  that  we  had  captured  one  of  General  Lyon's  spies.  He  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  301 


dead  tired,  wanted  some  sleep,  and  did  not  care  to  give  himself 
away. 

August  8th  was  a  hot  and  dusty  day.  I  have  already  told 
of  the  events  of  the  early  part  of  this  day.  About  9  o'clock  we 
changed  camp  and  went  out  to  the  edge  of  Springfield.  We 
were  not  far  from  a  residence  where  they  had  the  usual  large 
iron  soap-kettle  standing  out  in  the  yard.  Several  of  us  boys 
combined  and  got  water  from  a  well  and  made  a  fire  and  boiled 
the  usual  seven  different  kinds  of  insects  from  our  clothes.  The 
Dug  Springs  affair  had  filled  our  clothes  with  a  superfluity  of 
crawling  things;  daggers  from  the  grass  and  seed-ticks  from 
the  bushes  were  the  worst.  The  chiggers  started  in  on  us  low 
down  and  about  all  got  burrowed  in  by  the  time  they  had  got  up 
to  our  knees.  But  the  seed-ticks  seemed  to  want  to  crawl; 
so  they  ran  up  or  down,  but  when  they  came  to  the  compression 
of  the  army  belt  and  could  not  conveniently  search  further, 
they  then  began  to  bore  in  and  begin  business;  so  did  the  wood- 
ticks.  The  latter  would  bore  their  heads  clear  in,  and  if  their 
bodies  were  broken  off,  and  the  heads  left  in,  the  place  became  a 
festering  sore.  At  the  time  of  which  I  am  now  speaking  I  was 
bitten  all  up  and  had  a  girdle  of  sore  spots  around  my  waist, 
and  I  put  in  the  time,  on  August  8th,  as  much  as  I  could,  in  get 
ting  these  injuries  healed.  The  prescribed  treatment  for  chig 
gers  was  to  take  a  smoked  bacon-rind  and  resmoke  it  over  a 
smoldering  chip  fire  and  rub  with  it  the  places  where  the  chig 
gers  had  bored.  Then  in  an  hour  or  so  wash  it  off  with  strong 
bar  soap.  This  seemed  to  neutralize  the  poison  and  kill  the 


302  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

chigger,  and  recovery  was  rapid.  But  for  the  ticks,  they  had 
to  be  picked  out  with  the  sharp  point  of  a  knife,  and  then  wet 
chewing-tobacco  rubbed  on.  The  tobacco  seemed  to  kill  the 
poison,  but,  if  any  part  of  the  tick  remained  in,  a  sore  was  the 
consequence,  no  matter  what  was  done.  After  tobacco  had 
been  well  applied,  then  strong  soap  seemed  to  clear  the  spots 
out  and  hasten  recovery. 

During  all  this  time  in  and  around  Springfield  we  got  no  mail 
from  home,  and  no  news  of  the  war  reached  us  except  such  as 
had  an  unfortunate  tinge.  The  enemy  around  us  were  reported 
to  be  numbering  all  the  way  from  fifteen  thousand  to  thirty 
thousand;  rumor  magnified  everything,  and  a  private  soldier 
with  no  means  for  verifying  reports  did  not  know  what  to  be 
lieve.  During  the  afternoon  of  August  8th  WTC  had  roll-call  every 
hour,  so  as  to  keep  the  men  together.  Some  of  the  troops  had 
been  sent,  it  was  said,  to  escort  in  a  supply  train  from  Holla. 
It  was  passed  around  that  we  were  to  march  on  the  enemy  dur 
ing  the  night  of  the  8th,  and  as  evening  approached  it  was  sup 
posed  we  were  to  march  soon.  After  sundown  we  went  back  to 
town  and  bivouacked  in  line  of  battle  in  the  open  air.  We  laid 
down  in  rows  with  our  guns.  We  expected  that  as  we  did  not 
go  out  on  the  evening  of  the  8th,  we  would  be  awakened  in  the 
night  by  a  dash  of  rebel  cavalry.  We  did  not  expect  to  get 
through  the  night  without  a  fight.  We;  had  heard  that  the 
three  armies,  as  they  were  called,  had  camped  near  one  another 
on  Wilson  creek,  within  ten  miles  of  the  city.  They  were  em 
barrassed  the  same  as  we  by  the  dust  and  heat,  for  it  had  not 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  303 

now  rained  for  over  two  weeks,  and  the  sun  poured  down  mer 
cilessly. 

An  army  bakery  had  been  put  up  with  a  brick  oven  in  Spring 
field,  and  on  the  8th  and  9th  the  rations  issued  to  us  were  coffee 
and  side-meat  (which  the  boys  called  "sow  belly/'  but  there 
were  those  of  lofty  expression  who  called  it  "swine  bosom"); 
also,  big  loaves  of  bread  baked  in  army  mess-pans,  one  of  which 
loaves  would  fill  an  ordinary  wooden  water-bucket.  The  loaf 
was  baked  hard  and  had  a  thick  crust  on  the  outside,  but  the 
loaf  was  so  large  that  there  was  a  nodule  of  dough  in  the  center. 
During  the  night  of  the  8th  the  supply  train  arrived  from  Rolla, 
escorted  by  a  lot  of  Union  men  and  home-guards  and  by  a  few 
troops  sent  out  from  Springfield  as  the  train  got  near.  The 
train  was  not  a  large  one,  and  I  know  of  no  benefit  it  brought 
to  our  regiment  except  a  few  shoes,  and  a  lot  of  love-letters  from 
home  and  the  girls,  which  we  got  the  next  day. 

There  is  a  story  told  by  my  friend  Wiley  Britton  that  Lyon 
and  his  officers  had  a  meeting  on  the  evening  of  August  8th.  It 
was  a  council  of  war  to  exchange  ideas  and  adopt  a  plan.  It  is 
said  that  on  that  occasion  Lyon  spoke  as  follows : 

"Gentlemen,  there  is  no  prospect  of  our  being  reinforced  at 
this  point;  our  supply  of  provisions  is  running  short ;  there  is  a 
superior  force  of  the  enemy  in  front,  and  it  is  reported  that 
Hardee  is  marching  with  nine  thousand  men  to  cut  our  line  of 
communication.  It  is  evident  that  we  must  retreat.  The 
question  arises,  what  is  the  best  method  of  doing  it?  Shall 
we  endeavor  to  retreat  without  giving  the  enemy  battle  before 
hand  and  run  the  risk  of  having  to  fight  every  inch  along  our 
line  of  retreat?  Or  shall  we  attack  him  in  his  position  and 


304  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

endeavor  to  hurt  him  so  that  he  canot  follow?  I  am  decidedly 
in  favor  of  the  latter  plan.  I  propose  to  march  this  evening 
with  all  our  available  force,  leaving  only  a  small  guard  to  pro 
tect  the  property  which  will  be  left  behind,  and,  marching  up 
the  Fayetteville  road,  throw  our  whole  force  upon  him  at  once 
and  endeavor  to  rout  him  before  he  recovers  from  his  surprise." 

This  council  of  war  must  have  taken  place  in  the  afternoon, 
because  the  rumor  was  all  over  the  camp  that  we  were  to  march 
on  the  evening  of  the  8th.  For  some  reason  the  plan  was  post 
poned  for  a  day.  During  the  night  the  sky  to  the  southwest 
was  lighted  up  with  vast  camp-fires.  It  looked  to  us  boys 
that  escape  \vas  impossible  and  that  we  must  fight,  and  that 
if  not  killed  we  must  be  inevitably  captured  before  we  got  to 
Rolla,  if  we  lost.  Holla,  as  stated,  was  about  130  miles  distant 
through  the  enemy's  country. 

On  August  9th  there  was  no  bugle-call  in  the  morning.  We 
changed  our  camp  to  a  place  on  the  outskirts  of  town  and  got 
our  breakfast.  We  laid  around  camp  and  slept  and  ate,  and 
had  roll-call  about  every  hour.  We  were  told  not  to  leave 
camp.  Every  man  who  missed  a  roll-call  was  to  be  court- 
martialed.  All  of  our  men  who  were  barefoot  got  shoes;  I 
would  say  six  or  seven.  The  weather  was  so  hot  that  we  had 
squads  constantly  carrying  drinking-\vater  from  a  distant  well. 
Other  soldiers  fought  with  us  for  possession  of  the  well  until  a 
guard  had  to  bo  put  over  it  and  water  issued  by  turn  to  the 
different  companies  dependent  on  the  well.  I  forgot  to  mention 
that  on  August  6th  J  had  sent  my  diary  home  by  an  express 
company  that  was  doing  business  with  Rolla  wrhen  it  could. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  305 

I  count  it  one  of  my  pieces  of  great  good  fortune  that  the  book 
ultimately  got  through  and  arrived  safely  at  my  home  in  Iowa. 
I  had  some  doubts  at  the  time  as  to  my  ever  getting  home  to 
see  it.  When  it  did  get  home  the  package  had  been  opened; 
fortunately  it  was  of  no  value  to  anyone;  yet  I  cannot  ex 
plain  why  it  had  been  opened.  I  began  to  keep  another  one, 
in  a  book  that  a  friend  had  started  but  had  not  kept  up.  Some 
body  in  Springfield  gave  us  all  the  chewing-tobacco  we  wanted. 
We  had  but  little  smoking-tobacco,  and  hence  had  got  into 
the  habit  of  smoking  plug.  I  got  pretty  well  slept  up  during 
the  9th.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  wanted  to  be  as  fresh  and 
rested  as  circumstances  would  permit.  I  got  to  reflecting  that 
if  I  lost  a  leg,  or  a  man  ran  a  saber  through  me,  what  kind  of  a  fix 
would  I  then  be  in?  I  believe  that  no  one  wants  to  go  into  a 
battle  if  he  has  time  to  think  it  over.  We  all  had  time  to  ponder 
over  it,  and  the  contemplation  of  the  fact  did  not  give  us  much 
amusement,  and  some  of  the  boys  who  were  really  ill  so  much 
lamented  their  condition  that  they  suffered  a  good  deal.  One 
of  them,  a  good  friend  of  mine,  I  advised  to  go  to  the  hospital 
and  not  start  out  with  us,  for  he  was  too  weak ;  he  was  bound 
to  go,  and  when  we  afterwards  did  start  he  broke  down  and 
had  to  be  pulled  out  into  a  fence-corner  to  prevent  the  artillery 
from  running  over  him.  But  I  am  getting  ahead  of  .my  story. 
For  the  last  two  nights  there  had  been  picket-fighting.  Our 
pickets  had  generally  been  a  mile  or  more  outside  of  town,  and 
stationed  so  as  to  command  the  roads.  The  secesh  sharp 
shooters—and  most  of  them  were  sharpshooters — came  up  occa- 


306  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

sionally  and  picked  off  a  man;  on  the  other  hand,  our  boys 
would  slip  out  from  the  picket-posts  and  unhorse  one  of  the 
enemy,  generally  some  conspicuous  Confederate  cavalryman. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  Corpular  Mace  had  disappeared. 
There  was  great  confusion  in  Springfield.  The  rumor  was  that 
the  army  of  Price  and  McCullough  would  bo  in  the  city  in 
less  than  twenty-four  hours.  Most  of  the  people  were  making 
preparations  to  leave.  It  was  given  out  that  Fremont  had  re 
fused  to  reinforce  us,  that  Springfield  was  to  be  abandoned  to 
her  fate,  and  that  we  were  to  march  to  Rolla  to  defend  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad. 

Up  to  this  time  we  had  seen  very  little  of  our  regimental 
officers.  We  saw  no  more  of  them  than  we  saw  of  regimental 
officers  of  other  regiments.  They  were  in  town  a  great  deal.  I 
never  saw  the  Colonel  but  once  after  July  15th;  I  saw  the 
Lieutenant-Colonel  oftener,  but  he  never  visited  our  company; 
the  Major  visited  our  company  once  while  we  were  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Springfield.  An  officer  whose  reputation  depends 
upon  the  way  in  which  the  men  of  his  command  will  fight  ought 
to  keep  in  close  touch  with  them,  spend  all  of  his  time  in  looking 
after  them  and  in  cheering  them  up  and  making  them  feel  that 
he  is  interested.  Our  regimental  officers  did  nothing  of  the 
kind.  Of  .the  Colonel,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Major  I  ought 
to  speak.  I  don't  like  to  do  it,  but  must, — they  wore  no  good. 
Of  the  Colonel  I  may  say  that  his  appointment  was  a  piece  of 
pure  political  maneuvering.  He  was  30  years  old,  and  knew 
nothing  of  military  matters.  He  had  a  gifted  way  of  leading 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  307 

a  squad  of  men  up  to  a  bar  and  shouting  in  a  hoarse  baritone, 
"Whisky  for  six."  Being  a  failure  as  an  officer,  and  finally 
so  known  to  all  the  men,  he  did  not  go  back  into  the  service. 
When  he  was  mustered  out  with  us  he  returned  to  Dubuque 
and  ran  for  his  old  office  of  clerk,  and  being  elected  he  proceeded 
to  turn  Copperhead  and  join  the  Peace  Party  and  did  his  best 
to  break  down  in  the  field  Abe  Lincoln  and  the  army.  Society 
and  the  Iowa  soldiers  have  long  since  forgotten  what  ever  be 
came  of  him. 

Our  Lieutenant-Colonel  was  a  "township  lawyer"  who  knew 
nothing  of  military  matters  and  showed  no  aptitude  in  any 
other  direction.  He  had  no  heart  in  the  service,  had  no 
sense  of  duty,  and  left  the  men,  as  far  as  he  cared,  to  look  after 
themselves.  He  was  older  than  the  Colonel,  and  enjoyed  doing 
nothing  as  well  as  he.  When  mustered  out  he  did  not  get  back 
into  the  service,  but  became  a  "peace-at-any-price"  man,  and 
then  a  Copperhead,  and,  it  was  so  charged,  became  an  organizer 
of  the  "Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  who  were  the  meanest 
of  all  rebels. 

Our  Major,  who  was  about  55  years  of  age,  went  back  into  the 
army  service.  The  history  of  the  "Iowa  Colonels"  says  that 
he  was  personally  dismissed  by  President  Lincoln,  but  resigned 
before  the  dismissal  arrived. 

Those  were  the  men  who  were  to  lead  us  into  battle;  we  had 
sized  them  all  up,  and  did  not  like  them  and  had  no  confidence; 
in  them.  The  confidence  of  our  company  was  in  our  First 
Lieutenant.  Bravely  did  he  retain  it.  Our  Second  Lieutenant 


308  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

was  a  hairy  man.  He  had  no  ability.  He  was  proud  of  his 
whiskers.  He  was  put  in  on  account  of  his  relatives.  The 
hair  grew  up  to  his  eyes  and  down  the  back  of  his  hands  to  his 
finger-nails.  He  ought  to  have  lived  in  a  tree.  He  stayed  out 
when  he  got  out.  He  never  wanted  any  more  war.  Four 
months  was  enough  for  him. 

No  one  of  our  field  officers  ever  amounted  to  anything ;  this  is 
saying  a  good  deal,  for,  but  fewT  of  the  celebrated  generals  of  the 
war  had  as  good  a  start  as  our  field  officers ;  while,  under  them 
and  in  the  ranks,  were  those  who  were  to  be  and  who  became 
Generals,  Governors,  and  Judges.  But  one  thing  must  be  said 
—our  company  was  kept  up  and  sustained  by  its  First  Lieu 
tenant  (aged  36),  and  by  the  Orderly  Sergeant  (aged  28).  The 
latter  was  a  man  fit  to  be  an  officer.  He  was  cool,  brave,  tire 
less,  and  kind.  He,  Jo  Utter,  afterwards  became  one  of  the  best 
captains  in  the  service.  He  rests  now  in  his  quiet  and  honored 
grave  at  Denver.  Officers,  to  be  good  officers,  ought  to  have 
decency,  gumption,  and  bravery;  of  these  the  commonest  is 
bravery.  Most  people  have  it.  The  Indians  and  the  Malays 
have  it.  It  is  no  distinguishing  mark  nor  any  particular  credit 
to  have  it ;  but,  gumption  and  decency  are  scarcer.  Our  First 
Lieutenant  and  our  Orderly  Sergeant  had  all  three  qualifica 
tions. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  General  Lyon  made  his  last  report  to 
General  Fremont,  as  follows: 

SPRINGFIELD,  Mo.,  August  9,  1861. 

GENERAL:  I  have  just  received  your  note  of  the  6th  instant, 
by  special  messenger. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  309 


I  retired  to  this  place,  as  I  have  before  informed  you,  reach 
ing  here  on  the  5th.  The  enemy  followed  to  within  ten  miles 
of  here.  lie  has  taken  a  strong  position,  and  is  recruiting  his 
supplies  of  horses,  mules,  and  provisions  by  foraging  into  the 
surrounding  country,  his  large  force  of  mounted  men  enabling 
him  to  do  this  without  much  annoyance  from  me.  I  find  my 
position  extremely  embarrassing,  and  am  at  present  unable  to 
determine  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  maintain  my  ground  or  be 
forced  to  retire.  I  can  resist  any  attack  from  the  front,  but  if 
the  enemy  move  to  surround  me,  I  must  retire.  I  shall  hold 
my  ground  as  long  as  possible,  though  I  may,  without  knowing 
how  far,  endanger  the  safety  of  my  entire  force,  with  its  valuable4 
material,  being  induced  by  the  important  considerations  involved 
to  take  this  step.  The  enemy  yesterday  made  a  show  of  force 
about  five  miles  distant,  and  has  doubtless  a  full  purpose  of 
making  an  attack  upon  me.  N.  LYON, 

Brigadier  General,  Commanding  S.  W.  Expedition. 

Maj.  Gen.  J.  C.  FREMONT, 

Commanding  Department  of  the  West. 


CHAPTER  29. 

August  9th. — Orders  to  Fall  In. — Lyon's  Speech. — Getting  Scared. — Bill 
Huestis's  Theory. — Sweeney's  Speech.— Lyon's  Style. — Ammunition. — 
The  Bread  Loaf. — A  Day's  Rations. — Horse-thief  Hat. — A  Picture. — 
The  March.— The  Morning.— August  10th.— The  Battle  of  Wilson  Creek. 
— The  Pelican  Rangers. 

On  August  9th  shortly  before  sundown  the  bugle  was  blown 
and  we  were  commanded  to  "fall  in."  There  were  no  tents  to 
mark  our  regimental  line.  We  were  sleeping  in  the  open  air; 
the  position  of  the  companies  wras  marked  by  the  ashes  where 
the  company  camp-kettles  and  mess-pans  were  standing.  Each 
company  of  our  regiment  fell  in,  making  an  irregular  line  which 
was  quite  long,  owing  to  the  distances  between  the  companies. 
After  standing  in  line  for  some  minutes  General  Lyon  was  seen 
approaching  on  his  large  dapple-gray  horse;  this  was  the  horse 
he  generally  used.  Lyon,  as  he  rode  by  the  companies,  made 
a  brief  speech  to  each.  We  could  not  hear  what  he  said  to  the 
companies  on  each  side  of  us,  owing  to  the  distance  apart  of 
the  companies  and  the  low  tones  of  his  voice.  When  he  came 
to  our  company  his  words  were: 

"Men,  we  are  going  to  have  a  fight.  We  will  march  out  in  a 
short  time.  Don't  shoot  until  you  get  orders.  Fire  low — don't 
aim  higher  than  their  knees;  wait  until  they  get  close;  don't 
get  scared;  it's  no  part  of  a  soldier's  duty  to  get  scared." 

This  is  all  he  said,  and  is,  I  believe,  a  verbatim  report,  for  we 
often  talked  it  over,  and  compared  notes,  practically  com- 

(310) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  311 

mitting  it  to  memory,  lie  .said  the  same  to  the  other  companies, 
stopping  about  a  minute  at  each.  It  was  a  tactless  and  chilling 
speech;  there  was  nothing  in  it  of  dash,  vim,  or  encouragement. 
It  was  spoken  in  a  low  tone  and  with  a  solemn  look,  and  appar 
ently  with  a  feeling  of  exhaustion.  He  was  dressed  in  uniform, 
buttoned  up  to  the  chin,  as  if  he  were  cold,  although  the  weather 
was  dry  and  roasting.  We  boys  considered  the  speech  as  a 
very  poor  effort  and  entirely  wanting  in  enthusiasm.  He  had 
better  not  have  made  it.  The  absurdity  of  the  last  expression 
struck  every  one  of  us, — that  it  was  "no  part  of  a  soldier's  duty 
to  get  scared."  It  had  no  sense  to  it.  As  Bill  Huestis  said, 
"How  is  a  man  to  help  being  skeercd  when  he  is  skeered?" 
But  the  speech  represented  Lyon.  His  idea  was  duty;  every 
soldier  was  to  him  a  mere  machine;  it  was  not  the  "duty"  of  a 
soldier  to  think,  and  hence  he  was  not  to  get  scared  until  his 
superior  officer  told  him  so.  Lyon  might  have  spoken  a  few 
sentences  that  would  have  raised  his  men  up  to  the  top  notch 
and  endeared  himself  in  their  memory  for  all  time;  but  that 
was  not  Lyon;  he  did  not  care  to  endear  himself  to  anybody- 
This  speech  of  his  seemed  to  me  just  the  kind  of  speech  he 
would  make.  On  the  other  hand,  dear  old  Irish  General 
Sweeney,  who  did  not  get  killed,  made  a  speech  to  his  cavalry, 
of  which  I  have  no  notes  except  that  he  said  (so  his  boys  told) 
among  other  things,  "Stay  together,  boys,  and  we'll  saber  hell 
out  of  them."  This  had  enthusiasm  to  it. 

Among  the  men  Lyon  had  bitter  enemies  for  his  occasional 
severity  and  want  of  consideration.     The  boys  thought,  as  they 


312  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

had  agreed  to  stay  with  him  voluntarily,  that  he  ought  to  act 
better.  He  seemed  to  go  upon  the  theory  that  he  did  not  want 
his  men  to  think  kindly  of  him:  that  what  he  wanted  of  them 
was  to  have  them  understand  that  he  was  not  to  be  fooled  with, 
and  that  as  they  were  in  the  employ  of  the  Government  it  was 
his  duty  to  see  that  the  Government  got  everything  out  of  them 
that  could  be  got  for  the  time  being.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
boys  felt  that  strange  confidence  which  soldiers  always  feel  in 
an  officer  who  they  believe  understands  his  business.  So  that 
speech  which  General  Lyon  made  produced  no  particular  effect 
one  way  or  another,  and  had  he  not  been  killed  would  have  been 
entirely  forgotten.  In  fact,  the  boys  did  not  like  Lyon.  They 
wanted  a  fight  so  that  they  could  go  home  creditably,  to  them 
selves  and  their  sweethearts;  they  knew  just  exactly  how  to 
fire  a  musket,  and  they  did  not  intend  to  be  scared,  whether  it 
was  part  of  their  duty  or  not,  if  they  could  help  it. 

The  preparation  for  the  battle  was  not  very  extended.  Shortly 
after  Lyon  had  made  his  speech,  ammunition  was  distrib 
uted.  I  did  not  take  any,  because  I  did  not  now  use  the  same 
kind  that  my  company  used;  but  I  had  plenty  for  my  own 
use,  and  was  carrying  about  six  pounds  of  it.  " Orphan"  was 
in  good  fix,  clean  and  ready.  The  boys  filled  not  only  their 
cartridge-boxes  but  also  their  pockets.  Our  woolen  shirts  had 
pockets  in  the  bosom,  and  most  of  the  boys,  besides  filling  their 
breeches  pockets,  had  some  in  their  shirt  pockets;  in  short, 
we  were  " fixed."  A  wagon  also  drove  by  and  issued  two  days' 
rations  of  beef  and  pork,  which  we  went  immediately  to  cook- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  313 

ing.  Corpular  Mace  was  sadly  missed,  so  wo  did  the  work  our 
selves.  His  whereabouts  were  unknown.  Just  then  a  large 
covered  army  wagon  drove  up  with  a  sergeant,  who  asked  us 
how  many  "present  for  duty/'  and  on  being  answered  by  Ser 
geant  Utter,  threw  rapidly  onto  the  ground  an  equal  number 
of  the  large  turtle-shelled  loaves  which  I  have  described.  They 
bounced  around  in  the  dirt  and  bushes  and  we  each  got  one. 
My  action  regarding  my  loaf  was  perhaps  descriptive  of  what 
others  did.  I  plugged  it  like  a  watermelon  and  ate  my  supper 
out  of  the  inside.  When  I  had  finished  eating  I  fried  up  a  lot 
of  beef  and  pork  (my  two  days'  rations)  and  crammed  it  into 
the  loaf  and  poured  in  all  the  fat  and  gravy.  My  haversack 
had  been  worn  out  and  abandoned.  I  took  off  my  gun-sling 
and  ran  it  through  the  hard  lip  of  the  loaf,  hung  them  over  my 
shoulder,  filled  my  canteen,  and  was  ready  for  the  march.  The 
hat  I  wore  was  a  wide-brim,  floppy,  white-gray  hat  that  I  had 
got  at  the  capture  of  the  cam})  at  McCulla's  store.  It  was  the 
kind  then  generally  called  a  " horse-thief  hat."  With  it  and 
with  the  double1  bandana  that  I  got  of  the  chaplain  at  Forsyth, 
which  bandana,  tied  around  my  neck,  fell  down  on  one  side 
in  cowboy  style;  and  with  my  "Belle  of  the  Mohawk  Vale" 
breeches  fringed  down  the  leg-seams  from  waist  to  ankle,— 
with  these — all  these,  and  that  loaf  of  bread  and  my  bosom 
pockets  full  of  ammunition, —  without  coat,  vest  or  uniform,— 
a  picture  was  made  that  1  would  give  a  large  sum  now  for  a 
photograph  to  recall. 

About  sundown  we  were  all  marched  into  the  city  of  Spring- 


314  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

field ;  only  about  70  of  our  company  were  in  line ;  the  balance 
of  our  company  had  broken  down  and  were  things  of  the  past. 
We  soon  found  that  we  were  going  southwest.  The  city  was 
in  frightful  disorder.  Every  available  means  of  transportation 
was  being  used  by  the  merchants  on  the  city  square  to  load 
up  and  haul  off  their  goods.  We  had  brought  nothing  along 
with  us  but  fighting  material,  and  had  left  behind,  where  we 
had  camped,  our  blankets  and  cooking  utensils.  Storekeepers 
brought  us  out,  during  our  very  brief  stop  of  a  few  minutes, 
tobacco,  sugar,  and  things  of  that  kind.  Starting  west,  it  was 
twilight.  When  we  got  out  of  town  we  marched  along  past 
cornfields.  The  day  had  been  hot,  and  as  the  night  began  to 
grow  cool,  life  became  more  endurable,  and  the  marching  was 
anything  but  a  funeral  procession.  The  boys  gave  each  other 
elaborate  instructions  as  to  the  material  out  of  which  they  wanted 
their  coffins  made,  and  how  they  wanted  them  decorated.  Bill 
Huestis  said  he  wanted  his  coffin  made  out  of  sycamore  boards, 
with  his  last  words  put  on  with  brass  tacks,  which  were:  "I 
am  a-going  to  be  a  great  big  he-angel."  (Bill  still  lives.*)  After 
going  several  miles  in  the  night,  the  path  we  were  following 
became  a  dim  timber  road  leading  tortuously  around  among 
the  rocks  and  trees  and  brush  among  the  hills,  and  we  were 
ordered  to  keep  still  and  to  make  no  noise.  About  that  time 
a  cavalryman  passed  us  from  the  front,  and  we  noticed  that  he 
was  going  slowly,  and  that  his  horse's  feet  had  cloths  tied 
around  them,  banded  at  the  fetlock.  During  the  stoppage 

*At  Fcrndalc,  Calif. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  315 

there  was  a  passing  to  and  fro  along  the  line,  and  some  one  said 
that  blankets  had  been  tied  around  the  artillery  wheels.  We 
moved  short  distances  from  twenty  to  a  hundred  yards  at  a 
time,  and  kept  halting  and  closing  up,  and  making  very  slow 
progress.  Finally  we  were  practically  involved  in  the  timber 
and  among  the  side-hills  of  a  watercourse.  There  were  some 
little  light  clouds,  but  it  was  light  enough  to  see  a  short  dis 
tance  around  us,  by  starlight;  it  was  in  the  dark  of  the  moon. 
Finally  word  was  passed  along  the  line  that  we  were  inside  the 
enemy's  pickets,  but  were  two  or  three  miles  from  their  camps. 
Rumor  magnified  the  number  of  the  enemy  to  twenty-five 
thousand.  We  could  see  the  sheen  in  the  sky  of  vast  camp- 
fires  beyond  the  hills,  but  could  not  see  the  lights.  We  also 
heard  at  times  choruses  of  braying  mules. 

About  this  time,  while  we  were  moving  along  we  passed  around 
the  brow  of  a  low,  rocky  hill,  and  the  line  stopped  at  a  place 
where  our  company  stood  on  a  broad  ledge  of  rock.  It  must 
have  been  about  11  o'clock.  I  never  did  know  the  hour;  I 
had  traded  my  watch  for  ammunition.  We  all  laid  down  on 
this  rock  to  get  rested.  The  cool,  dewy  night  air  made  me  feel 
chilly  in  the  " linings"  which  I  was  wearing;  but  the  radiating 
heat  which  the  rock  during  the  day  had  absorbed,  was  peculiarly 
comfortable.  I  went  to  sleep  in  from  five  to  ten  seconds  and 
slept  deliciously.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  if  we  were  going 
to  have  a  battle  I  certainly  would  not  get  killed,  but  might 
need  all  my  strength  and  ability  in  getting  away  from  the 
enemy's  cavalry.  The  anxiety  which  novelists  describe,  and 


316  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

the  wakefulness  on  the  eve  of  battle,  are  creatures  I  presume 
of  the  imagination  of  the  novelists  respectively,  who  were  never 
there.  I  do  not  know  what  took  place,  until,  early  in  the 
morning,  just  as  there  was  a  slight  flush  of  dawn  in  the  east, 
somebody  came1 'along  and  woke  us  all  up,  and  told  us  to  keep 
still  and  fall  into  line.  We  marched  a  short  distance  and 
struck  an  open  piece  of  ground  where  we  could  see  all  who  were 
marching,  those  in  our  front  and  those  in  our  rear.  The  cavalry, 
artillery  and  infantry  wore  marching  in  companies,  abreast,  and 
in  close  order.  In  a  short  time  as  it  began  to  grow  a  little  light 
we  heard  a  gun  fire.  In  a  short  time  two  or  three  more.  Then 
some  regular  troops  wore  detailed  as  skirmishers,  and  circled 
around  to  our  left.  In  a  short  time  wre  found  that  the  enemy 
were  alive  and  active.  Our  regiment  was  ordered  to  go  in  a 
direction  to  the  left,  and  to  take  a  position  on  a  low  ridge ;  the 
enemy  in  straggling  numbers  were  shooting  at  us  from  the 
ridge.  The  skirmishers  fell  back.  As  we  marched  up  the  hill, 
it  came  in  my  way  to  step  over  one  of  the  skirmishers  who  was 
shot  right  in  front  of  us.  He  was  a  blue-eyed,  blonde,  fine- 
looking  young  man,  with  a  light  mustache,  who  writhed  around 
upon  the  ground  in  agony.  While  I  was  walking  past,  I  asked 
him  where  he  was  shot,  but  he  seemed  unable  to  comprehend 
or  answrcr,  and  perhaps  in  the  noise  heard  nothing.  As  we 
started  up  the  ridge  a  yell  broke  from  our  lines  that  was  kept 
up  with  more  or  less  accent  and  with  slight  intermissions  for 
six  hours.  We  took  a  position  on  the  ridge,  and  the  country 
seemed  alive  on  both  our  right  and  left.  Wilson's  creek  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  317 

in  our  front,  with  an  easy  descending  hillside  and  a  broad  meadow 
before  us,  in  which  about  five  acres  of  Confederate  wagons  were 
parked,  axle  to  axle.  The  hills  bore  some  scattering  oaks,  and 
an  occasional  bush,  but  we  could  see  clearly,  because  the  fires 
had  kept  the  undergrowth  eaten  out,  and  the  soil  was  flinty 
and  poor.  Since  that  time  a  large  portion  of  the  country  has 
been  covered  with  a  very  donse  thicket  of  small  oaks.  But 
in  those  days  the  few  trees  were  rather  large,  scrawling,  and 
straggling,  and  everything  could  be  distinctly  seen  under  them 
all  around.  Across  the  creek,  which  was  not  very  far,  perhaps 
about  a  third  of  a  mile,  a  battery  of  artillery  made  a  specialty 
of  our  ranks,  opening  out  thunderously.  We  all  lay  down  on 
the  ground,  and  for  some  time  the  shells,  round  shot  and  canis 
ter  were  playing  closely  over  our  heads.  Some  few  of  the  canis 
ter  fell  into  our  ranks.  They  were  coarse  cast-iron  balls,  about 
an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter.  Where  they  struck 
in  the  ground  the  boys  hunted  for  them  with  their  hands.  The 
shells  were  shrapnels,  being  filled  with  leaden  balls  run  to 
gether  with  sulphur.  Our  company  did  not  have  much  to  do 
for  a  while  in  the  way  of  shooting;  we  simply  laid  down  on  the 
ridge  and  watched  the  battery  in  front  of  us,  or  sat  up  or  kneeled 
down.  When  we  saw  the  puff  of  the  artillery  we  dodged  and 
went  down  flat,  and  in  the  course  of  fifteen  minutes  gained  so 
much  confidence  that  we  felt  no  hesitation  in  walking  around 
and  seeing  what  we  could  see,  knowing  that  we  could  dodge 
the  artillery  ammunition.  This  battery  was  making  a  specialty 
of  us,  but  we  could  evade  their  missiles;  we  could  see  the  shells 


318  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

in  the  air  when  they  were  coming  toward  us,  and  could  calcu 
late  their  routes. 

In  a  little  while  two  pieces  of  artillery  were  run  up  on  the 
ridge  between  our  company  and  the  company  on  the  right. 
These  were  Totten's,  and  were  afterwards  increased.  They 
started  in  to  silence  the  enemy's  artillery,  and  a  concentration 
of  fire  began  in  our  neighborhood  near  the  cannon.  The  duel 
was  very  interesting,  and  our  boys  stayed  close  to  the  earth. 
Considerable  damage  was  done  to  our  artillery,  but  they  were 
not  silenced.  One  of  the  large  roan  artillery  horses  was  stand 
ing  back  of  the  gun  and  over  the  crest  of  the  hill.  A  shell  from 
the  battery  in  front  of  us  struck  this  horse  somehow  and  tore 
off  its  left  shoulder.  Then  began  the  most  horrible  screams 
and  neighing  I  ever  heard.  I  have  since  that  time  seen  wounded 
horses,  and  heard  their  frantic  shrieks,  and  so  have  all  other 
soldiers,  but  the  voice  of  this  roan  horse  was  the  limit ;  it  was 
so  absolutely  blood-curdling  that  it  had  to  be  put  to  an  end 
immediately.  One  of  the  soldiers  shot  the  horse  through  the 
heart. 

In  a  little  while,  in  front  of  us,  appeared,  advancing  in  the 
meadow,  a  body  of  men  that  we  estimated  at  about  one  thou 
sand.  They  seemed  to  be  going  to  attack  somebody  on  our 
left.  Our  artillery  stopped  firing  over  their  heads  at  the  enemy's 
battery,  and  turned  upon  the  meadow ;  in  a  short  time  the  enemy 
were  in  confusion. 

On  the  edge  of  the  meadow  toward  us,  and  between  us,  was 
a  low  rail  fence ;  the  enemy  rallied  under  the  shelter  of  it,  and, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  319 

as  if  by  some  inspiration  or  sonic  immediate  change  of  orders, 
they  broke  it  down  in  places  and  started  for  our  artillery.  As 
they  got  nearer  to  us,  their  own  artillery  ceased  to  fire,  because 
it  endangered  them.  When  they  got  close  the  firing  began 
on  both  sides.  How  long  it  lasted  I  do  not  know.  It  might 
have  been  an  hour;  it  seemed  like  a  week;  it  was  probably 
twenty  minutes.  Every  man  was  shooting  as  fast,  on  our  side, 
as  he  could  load,  and  yelling  as  loud  as  his  breath  would  permit. 
Most  were  on  the  ground,  some  on  one  knee.  The  enemy 
stopped  advancing.  We  had  paper  cartridges,  and  in  loading 
we  had  to  bite  off  the  end,  and  every  man  had  a  big  quid  of 
paper  in  his  mouth,  from  which  down  his  chin  ran  the  dissolved 
gunpowder.  The  other  side  were  yelling,  and  if  any  orders 
were  given  nobody  heard  them.  Every  man  assumed  the  re 
sponsibility  of  doing  as  much  shooting  as  he  could. 

Finally,  the  field  was  so  covered  with  smoke  that  not  much 
could  be  known  as  to  what  was  going  on.  The  day  was  clear 
and  hot.  As  the  smoke  grew  denser,  we  stood  up  and  kept 
inching  forward,  as  we  fired,  and  probably  went  forward  in 
this  way  twenty-five  yards.  We  noticed  less  noise  in  front  of 
us,  and  only  heard  the  occasional  boom  of  a  gun.  The  wind, 
a  very  light  breeze,  was  in  our  favor,  blowing  very  gently  over 
us  upon  the  enemy. 

Our  firing  lulled,  and  as  the  smoke  cleared  away,  sitting  on 
the  fence  in  front  of  us,  on  the  edge  of  the  meadow,  was  a  stand 
ard-bearer,  waving  a  hostile  flag.  I  do  not  know  its  description, 
but  it  was  not  a  Union  flag.  The  firing  having  ceased,  we  were 


320  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

ordered  back  and  told  to  lie  down,  but  the  boys  would  not  do 
it  until  the  Rebel  artillery  opened  on  us  again.  Several  wanted 
to  shoot  at  the  man  on  the  fence,  but  the  officers  went  along 
the  line  threatening  to  kill  the  first  man  that  raised  a  musket, 
which  was  all  right,  that  being  the  way  the  game  is  played. 
In  the  mean  time,  however,  a  little  Irish  sergeant,  who  ap 
peared  to  stand  about  five  feet  high,  and  sported  a  large  fiery 
mustache,  turned  a  twelve-pounder  on  the  man  who  was  wav 
ing  the  flag  on  the  fence  in  such  a  foolhardy  way.  The  gun 
went  off,  the  Rebel  flag  pitched  up  in  the  air,  and  the  man  fell 
to  pieces  gradually  over  the  fence;  and  at  least  a  thousand 
men  on  our  side,  \vlio  sawr  it,  cheered  in  such  loud  unison  that 
it  could  have  been  heard  as  far  as  the  report  of  the  twelve- 
poundcr. 

I  am  not  able  to  give,  in  any  moderate  limits,  the  history 
of  the  charges  and  counter-charges  on  the  slope  of  that  hill, 
but  they  kept  coming.  In  one  of  them  the  Rebel  infantry,  in 
its  charge,  worn  down  to  a  point,  with  its  apex  touched  the 
twelve-pounder,  and  one  man  with  his  bayonet  tried  to  get  the 
Irish  sergeant,  who,  fencing  with  his  non-commissioned  officer's 
sword,  parried  the  thrusts  of  the  bayonet.  I  fired  at  this  "apex" 
at  a  distance  of  not  over  30  feet.  Other  secesh  were  around 
the  guns,  but  none  of  them  got  away.  The  main  body  were 
started  back  down  the  slope;  the  twelve-pounder  was  then 
loaded,  and  assisted  their  flight. 

At  one  time  we  were  charged  by  a  large  detachment  of  Louisi 
ana  troops.  They  made  the  most  stubborn  fight  of  the  day. 


HISTORY  OI<    THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  321 


They  had  nice  new  rifled  muskets  from  the  armory  at  Baton 
Rouge,  which  armory  had  by  the  secession  leaders  been  ju 
diciously  filled,  before  the  war,  from  Northern  arsenals.  \Yc 
were  borne  back  by  the  charge  of  the  Louisiana  regiment, 
slowly  in  the  course  of  the  firing,  as  much  as  fifty  feet.  Squads 
of  Rebel  cavalry  had  been  seen  in  our  right  rear,  and  while  the 
enemy  were  safe  in  running,  we  were  not.  No  man  deserted 
the  ranks.  During  that  fight  Corporal  Bill*  received  a  minie 
ball  on  the  crest  of  the  forehead.  The  ball  went  over  his  head, 
tearing  the  seal]),  sinking  the  skull  at  the  point  of  impact  about 
one-eighth  of  an  inch.  lie  bled  with  a  sickening  profusion  all 
over  his  face,  neck,  and  clothing;  and  as  if  half-unconscious 
and  half-crazed,  he  wandered  down  the  line,  asking  for  me;  he 
was  my  blanket-mate.  lie  said,  "Link,  have  you  got  any 
water  in  your  canteen?"  I  handed  him  my  canteen  and  sat 
him  down  by  the  side  of  a  tree  that  stood  near  our  line,  but  he 
got  up  and  wandered  around  with  that  canteen,  perfectly 
oblivious;  going  now  in  one  direction  and  then  in  another. 
From  that  depression  in  the  skull,  wasted  to  a  skeleton,  he, 
an  athlete,  died  shortly  after  his  muster-out,  with  consumption. 
How  could  it  be? 

We  succeeded  in  repulsing  the  Louisiana  troops,  although  we 
were  not  numerically  superior.  Our  former  victory  had  given 
us  great  confidence,  and  no  man  broke  ranks  or  ran.  As  the 
Louisiana  troops  yielded  back  we  followed  them  some  little 
distance  down  the  slope,  and  when  they  were  gone  we  put  in 

*  William  J.  Fuller. 


322  .  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

about  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  gathering  up  fine  shot-guns 
and  fine  rifled  muskets,  and  looking  over  the  poor  fellows  that 
were  killed  and  wounded  on  the  hill  in  front  of  us. 

I  was  afraid  I  would  run  out  of  ammunition,  and  I  helped 
myself  to  the  cartridges  in  the  box  of  a  dead  soldier  who  was 
labeled  as  a  "Pelican  Ranger."  He  had  the  same  kind  of  gun 
that  I  had,  and  used  the  same  kind  of  ammunition.  I  now 
have  two  bullets  left  that  I  took  from  that  cartridge-box,  my 
only  mementoes  of  the  battle.  The  Louisiana  boys  showed 
lots  of  grit. 

After  a  few  minutes  another  attack  was  made,  but  it  was  weak 
and  feeble;  it  must  have  been  a  sort  of  "Butternut  Militia" 
gang.  One  of  them  behind  a  tree,  perhaps  50  yards  in  front  of 
us,  after  his  associates  had  retired,  rose  up  and  deliberately, 
fired  a  double-barrel  shotgun,  both  barrels,  at  us.  He  injured 
no  one  that  we  knew  of,  but  some  one  dropped  him  suddenly, 
and  Seeger  of  our  company  ran  forward  and  got  his  shotgun, 
kept  it,  and  took  it  back  home  to  Iowa,  a  splendid  stub-and- 
twist  gun.  I  saw  it  all  done — in  fact  I  fired  at  the  man  behind 
the  tree  while  he  was  reloading  his  shotgun,  but  don't  think  I 
hit  him. 

About  this  time  we  heard  yelling  in  the  rear,  and  we  saw  a 
crowd  of  cavalry  coming  on  a  grand  gallop,  very  disorderly, 
with  their  apex  pointing  steadily  at  our  pieces  of  artillery.  We 
were  ordered  to  face  about  and  step  forward  to  meet  them. 
We  advanced  down  the  hill  toward  them  about  forty  yards  to 
where  our  view  was  better,  and  rallied  in  round  squads  of  fifteen 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  323 


or  twenty  men  as  we  had  been  drilled  to  do,  to  repel  a  cavalry 
charge.  \Ve  kept  firing,  and  awaited  their  approach  with  fixed 
bayonets.  Our  firing  was  very  deadly,  and  the  killing  of  horses 
and  riders  in  the  front  rank  piled  the  horses  and  men  together 
as  they  tumbled  over  one  another,  from  the  advancing  roar. 
The  charge,  so  far  as  its  force  was  concerned,  was  chocked  be 
fore  it  got  within  fifty  yards  of  us.  There  were  800  of  them. 
This  cavalry  charge  was  led  by  a  man  named  Laswell,  formerly 
from  our  State, — Ottumwa,  Iowa, — who  had  gone  to  Texas;  we 
got  him. 

In  the  mean  time,  over  our  heads  our  artillery  took  up  the 
fight;  then  the  cavalry  scattered  through  the  woods,  leaving 
the  wounded  horses  and  men  strewn  around.  AVe  captured 
several  dismounted  men  by  ordering  them  in  under  cover  of 
a  gun.  A  Hag  was  seen  lying  on  the  ground  about  150  yards 
in  front  of  us,  but  no  one  was  ordered  or  cared  to  undertake 
to  go  and  bring  it  in.  In  a  few  minutes  a  solitary  horseman 
was  seen  coming  towards  us,  as  if  to  surrender,  and  the  cry 
therefore  rose  from  us,  "Don't  shoot!"  AVhen  within  about 
twenty  yards  of  that  Mag  the  horseman  spurred  his  horse,  and, 
leaning  from  his  saddle,  picked  the  nag  from  the  grass,  and  off 
he  went  with  it  a-flying.  The  nag  bore  the  "Lone  Star"  of 
Texas,  and  we  didn't  shoot  at  the  horseman  because  we  liked 
his  display  of  nerve. 

In  a  few  minutes  a  riderless  horse  came  dashing  over  the 
ground,  and  as  he  passed  a  bush,  a  man  with  a  white  shirt, 
covered  with  blood,  rose  from  the  ground,  stopped  the  horse, 


324  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

slowly  and  painfully  mounted,  and  rode  off.  The  cry  passed, 
" Don't  shoot!"  and  the  man  escaped.  In  the  mean  time 
artillery  fire  concentrated  on  us,  and  the  Irish  sergeant  yelled, 
"They  are  shooting  Sigel's  ammunition  at  us!"  Sigel  had 
been  whipped.  We  resumed  our  place  on  the  ridge. 

Some  few  spasmodic  efforts  wore  made  to  dislodge  us,  all  of 
which  we  repulsed.  Finally  the  hostile  artillery  in  front  ceased 
firing,  and  there  came  a  lull ;  finally  the  last  charge  of  the  day 
was  made,  which  we  easily  repulsed,  and  the  field  was  ours. 

This  last  charge  was  not  very  much  of  a  charge.  It  was  a 
mixed,  heterogeneous  charge.  I  remember  one  very  funny 
thing  that  happened  in  it.  We  were  down  on  one  knee,  firing 
and  loading  as  fast  as  possible,  expecting  to  rise  soon  and  repel 
them,  for  the  enemy  had  slacked  up  and  almost  stopped  ad 
vancing;  along  came  a  man  in  a  Union  lieutenant's  uniform, 
inquiring  for  his  regiment, — he  was  lost ;  we  of  course  did  not 
know  where  his  regiment  was;  I  was  near  the  end  of  our  com 
pany  line;  he  pulled  out  a  long  plug  of  chewing-tobacco,  thin 
and  black;  I  grabbed  it  and  bit  off  a  chew;  the  man  next  to 
me  wanted  a  chew;  I  handed  it  to  him;  then  it  went  to  the  next, 
and  so  on  down  the  line;  the  lieutenant  followed  it  for  a  while 
and  then  gave  up  and  passed  on,  leaving  the  remnant  of  the 
plug  with  the  company.  Every  man  that  took  a  chew  first 
blew  out  a  big  wad  of  cartridge-paper  blackened  with  gunpow 
der,  which  he  had  bitten  off  in  loading. 

Word  had  been  passed  along  the  line  that  Lyon  was  killed. 
A  big  regular  army  cavalry  soldier  on  a  magnificent  horse 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  325 


rode  down  alongside  of  the  rear  of  our  company,  and  along  the 
line;  he  appeared  to  have  been  sent  for  the  purpose  of  bracing 
us  up.  He  shouted  and  swore  in  a  manner  that  was  attractive 
even  on  the  battle-field,  and  wound  up  with  a  great  big  oath 
and  the  expression,  "Life  ain't  long  enough  for  them  to  lick  us 
in."  After  this  last  repulse  the  field  was  ours,  and  we  sat  down 
on  the  ground  and  began  to  tell  the  funny  incidents  that  had 
happened.  We  looked  after  boys  who  wen1  hurt,  sent  details  off 
to  fill  the  canteens,  and  we  ate  our  dinners,  saving  what  we  did 
not  want  of  our  big  crusts  and  hanging  them  over  our  shoulders 
again  on  our  gun-slings.  AYe  regretted  very  much  the  death 
of  General  Lyon,  but  we  felt  sanguine  over  our  success,  and 
thought  the  war  was  about  ended. 

Our  drill  had  given  us  more  than  one  advantage4 :  in  the 
/Vrx/  place,  not  much  of  us  could  be  seen  by  an  advancing  regi 
ment  while  we  lay  on  the  ground ;  we  were  sort  of  an  unknown 
quantity,  and  could  only  be  guessed  at.  Second,  we  could 
take  a  rest  and  deadly  aim  and  pour  in  a  terrific  volley  while 
lying  on  the  ground  :  this  would  shock  the  advancing  line  if  it 
indeed  did  not  bring  them  to  a  dead  halt.  It  embarrassed 
their  alignment  and  reduced  their  momentum.  Third,  when 
they  began  to  fire  we  rose  on  one  knee;  the  air  was  soon  full 
of  smoke,  and  while  they  always  shot  over  our  heads  we  could 
sec4  them  under  the  cloud  of  smoke.  Tin4  smoke  was  inclined 
to  rise,  but  if  they  were  advancing  they  wen*  on  foot  and  could 
not  see  under  the  smoke.  If  they  advanced  they  were  soon 
enveloped  in  their  own  smoke,  their  officers  could  not  see  their 


326  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


own  men,  and  the  men  became  bewildered  at  their  situation 
and  by  their  losses  in  killed  and  wounded.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  air  was  clear  behind  us  and  our  officers  could  manage;  their 
men,  and  we  were  not  staggered  by  losses.  Fourth,  our  men 
could  not  break  to  the  rear  and  run,  because  they  could  be  seen; 
while  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  could  dissolve  and  the  skulkers 
get  to  the  rear  in  the  smoke  practically  unseen.  Hence  by  rea 
son  of  our  drill  and  situation  we  could  not  be  dislodged  by  any 
thing  but  a  very  strong  force.  And  we  were  comparatively 
safe  in  comparison  with  an  attacking  column.  Above  all  other 
factors  of  safety  was  our  drill. 

After  a  little  while,  there  being  nothing  visible  in  front  of  us, 
an  orderly  came  and  told  us  to  move  forward,  and  the  artillery 
to  go  to  the  rear.  The  artillery  had  to  be  helped  off;  we  moved 
forward  about  one  hundred  feet,  then  wheeled  to  the  right  by 
company,  marched  some  little  distance4  down  the  line  of  battle, 
the  company  all  abreast.  We;  supposed  that  we  were  going  to 
chase  the4  enemy  down  Wilson's  creek,  but  instead  of  this  an 
order  came  for  us  to  wheel  to  the  right,  and  take4  up  a  position  in 
the  rear.  We  marched  to  the  rear,  perhaps  a  half-mile  or  more, 
and  on  a  ridge  found  the  artillery  and  some  of  the  infantry 
drawn  up  in  a  new  line  of  battle.  We  wen4  the  last  off  the  field 
and  never  a  shot  fired  after  us.  We  were  fronted  about,  but 
nobody  pursued  us,  and  several  of  the  boys  who  had  brought 
packs  of  cards  along  sat  down  in  groups  and  played.  In  the 
meantime  our  ambulances  and  other  transportation  began  a 
slow  movement  toward  Springfield.  In  our  new  line  of  battle 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  327 


we  stayed  about  an  hour  while  the  Rebels  were  mostly  re 
treating  down  Wilson  creek. 

The  boys  were  highly  pleased  that  they  had  got  through  with 
the  day  alive,  and  there  was  no  idea  that  the  day  had  gone 
against  us.  So  much  was  this  so,  that  myself  and  two  corporals 
went  off  to  a  near  farm-house  to  buy  peaches,  the  lieutenant 
consenting  providing  we  would  bring  a  lot  back  to  the1  boys, 
and  return  if  we  heard  a  gun  fire.  While  at  the  house  we  bought 
some  buttermilk,  and  stopped  with  an  old  man  to  tell  him  the 
story  of  the  fight,  when  in  a  little  while  we  saw  the  dust  rising, 
and  saw  that  the  whole  detachment  was  going  through  to  Spring 
field  by  the  main  road.  This  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon,  as  near  as  I  can  judge.  A  farmer  boy  came  in  shortly 
afterward,  and  said  that  everybody  had  started  for  Springfield. 

In  a  little  while  we  got  rested,  and  we  started  on  after  the 
army.  There  was  no  enemy  following:  stragglers  came  along 
occasionally,  and  we  sat  down  and  rested  from  time  to  tim<i. 
We  were  so  hoarse  from  yelling  that  we  could  hardly  talk.  The 
reiterated  kick  of  "U.  S.  1861"  made  my  shoulder  feel  as  if  I 
had  the  rheumatism.  We  did  not  get  into  Springfield  until 
after  sundown.  There  was  absolutely  no  pursuit,  and  we  felt 
no  apprehension  of  danger. 


CHAPTER  30. 

Author's  Review  of  Battle. — Our  Officers. — Official  Reports. — Schofield. — 
Sturgis. — Tottcn. — Lyon  Killed  Leading  First  Iowa. — The  Pelicans. — 
The  Reunion  Story. — Confederate  Quarrels. — Criticism  of  Sigel. — Poor 
Confederate  Generalship. — Captain  Mason. — Private  Norman. — Dis 
cussion  of  Lyon. — The  Mudsill. 

This  is  the  History  of  the  Battle  and  of  recollections  on  the 
field  as  told  by  a  private  soldier.  I  can  only  speak  of  what  I  saw. 
We  had  held  the  field  about  six  hours,  and  the  enemy  had  fled. 
The  wonder  with  me  then  was  why  we  did  not  chase  them. 
The  boys  wanted  to  follow  up  their  victory.  We  had  stayed 
on  our  second  line  waiting  for  the  rebels  to  stop  running,  to 
turn  around,  come  back,  and  try  us  again,  but  they  did  not. 
We  saw  how  Sigel  had  whipped  the  lower  camp,  down  below 
us,  without  any  trouble  at  all,  although  himself  afterwards 
whipped.  We  said,  "Why  don't  we  follow  them  up?"  When 
we  left  the  battle-field,  in  front  of  us  and  down  in  the  meadow 
and  around  the  burned  supply  trains  were  a  large  number  of 
killed  Confederates,  and  none  anywhere  to  be  seen  with  weapons 
in  their  hands.  Our  company  was  intact.  Our  drill  and  our 
discipline4  had  counted  for  everything.  Our  firing  and  loading 
on  the  ground  had  given  us  almost  an  immunity  from  injury. 
The  enemy  had  fired  over  our  heads  all  day.  They  had  cut 
up  the  foliage  badly.  Wagon-loads  of  shells  were  wasted  on  us 
that  day.  The  drill  of  our  regiment  was  seen  in  the  results. 
Other  regiments  had  one  killed  to  three  wounded.  Our  regi- 

(328) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


mcnt  had  one  killed  to  eleven  wounded.  No  one  in  our  com 
pany  was  killed.  If  we  could  sec1  the  cannon  that  fired  we  did 
not  care  for  the  result,  because  we  could  get  down  onto  the  ground 
before  the  ball  could  reach  us,  and  could  tell  by  the  direction  of 
the  puff  of  smoke  whether  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  go  to  the 
trouble  of  dodging.  Our  First  Lieutenant  and  our  Orderly 
Sergeant  on  that  day  were  cool  and  brave.  Our  Lieutenant 
walked  out  more  than  once  so  far  in  front  to  reconnoitre  that 
we  were  afraid  he  would  be  picked  off,  but  he  was  not.  Our 
Colonel,  instead  of  being  at  his  post  with  his  regiment,  never 
came  out  of  Springfield.  He  said  he  was  sick.  I  do  not  recol 
lect  our  regimental  officers  nor  what  they  did.  The  Adjutant 
was  wounded  in  the  leg  near  our  company,  and  sat  down  back 
of  our  line  and  dressed  it  himself.  He  was  all  right.  I  saw 
no  Union  soldier  run  on  that  day  except  Sigel's.  General 
Schofield  says:  "Early  in  this  engagement  the  F-irxt  Iowa  Regi 
ment  came  into  line  and  relieved  the  First  Kansas,  which  had 
been  thrown  into  some  disorder  and  compelled  to  retire."  I 
never  saw  this.  We  moved  around  somewhat  on  the  battle 
field,  but  not  for  any  considerable  distances.  I  know  exactly 
what  I  saw,  and  I  know  that  mistakes  appear  in  the  official 
reports.  The  report  that  the  First  Kansas  became  panic-stricken 
and  ran  through  us  and  cut  off  two  of  our  companies  never  was 
true,  nor  partly  true.  General  Schofield  says  in  his  official 
report : 

"  Meanwhile  our  disordered  line  of  the  left  was  again  rallied, 
and  pressed  the  enemy  with  great  vigor  and  coolness,  particu- 


330  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


larlij  l/ic  First  Iowa  Heyimenl,  which  /ought  like  veterans.  This 
hot  encounter  lasted  perhaps  half  an  hour  after  General  Lyon's 
death,  when  the  enemy  fled,  and  left  the  field  clear  as  far  as  we 
could  see,  and  almost  total  silence  reigned  for  twenty-five  or 
thirty  minutes." 

Again  General  Schofield  says  in  the  report : 

"Captain  Totten's  battery  in  the  center,  supported  by  the 
First  loiva  and  regulars,  was  the  main  point  of  attack.  The  enemy 
could  frequently  be  seen  within  20  or  30  feet  of  his  guns,  and 
the  smoke  of  the  opposing  lines  was  often  so  confounded  as  to 
seem  but  one." 

General  Sturgis,  who  afterward  commanded,  says  in  his  re 
port  : 

"Early  in  the  engagement  the  First  Iowa  came  to  the  support 
of  the  First  Kansas  and  First  Missouri,  both  of  which  had  stood 
like  veteran  troops  exposed  to  a  galling  fire  of  the  enemy." 

General  Sturgis  then  speaks  of  the  death  of  Lyon,  and  says : 

"Of  this  dire  calamity  I  was  not  informed  until  perhaps  half 
an  hour  after  its  occurrence.  In  the  mean  time  our  disordered 
line  on  the  left  was  again  rallied  and  pressed  the  enemy  with 
great  vigor  and  coolness,  particularly  the  First  Iowa,  which 
Bought  like  veterans.  This  hot  encounter  lasted  perhaps  half  an 
hour." 

General  Sturgis  further  says  in  his  official  report : 

"Captain  Totten's  battery  in  the  center,  supported  by  the 
lowas  and  regulars,  was  the  main  point  of  attack.  The  enemy 
could  frequently  be  seen  within  20  feet  of  Totten's  guns,  and 
the  smoke  of  the  opposing  lines  was  often  so  confounded  as  to 
seem  but  one.  Now  for  the  first  time  (luring  the  day  our  en 
tire  line  maintained  its  position  with  perfect  firmness.  Not 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  I XF AN TRY.  331 


the  slightest  disposition  (o  give  way  was  manifested  at  any 
point.  .  .  .  Tims  closed  an  almost  uninterrupted  con 
flict  of  six  hours. ?; 

The  official  report  shows  the  number  of  killed  and  wounded 
on  the  Union  side  was  223  killed,  721  wounded,  and  60  miss 
ing,  outside  of  Sigel's  Brigade4.  Sigel's  Brigade  were  practically 
destroyed  because  they  went  to  plundering  the  rebel  camp  and 
turned  up  missing  when  countercharged,  but  they  did  no 
fighting.  The  killed  and  wounded  of  the  whole  Sigel  Brigade 
was  only  45,  while  that  of  the  First  Iowa  Kegiment  was  150, 
and  more. 


Captain  Totten  says  in  his  report : 


"The  enemy,  also  sadly  dispirited,  were  making  a  demon 
stration  to  cover  their  retreat  from  the  immediate  held  of  battle. 
At  this  time  the  left  wing  of  the  I  own  regiment  was  brought  up 
to  support  our  brave  men  still  in  action,  while  two  pieces  of  my 
battery  were  in  advance1  on  their  light.  The  last  effort  was 
short  and  decisive4,  the  enemy  leaving  the  field  and  retiring  down 
through  the  valley  covered  by  thick  underbrush  to  the  right  of 
the  center  of  the  field  of  battle,  towards  their  camp  on  Wilson 
creek.  After  this  we  were  left  unmolested,  and  our  forces  were4 
drawn  off  of  the  field  in  good  order  under  Major  Sturgis,  who 
had  assumed  command  directly  after  General  Lyon's  death." 

During  the  battle  I  remember  of  seeing  our  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  only  once,  and  that  was  when  he  was  riding  along  back 
of  our  lines  wearing  a  linen  duster,  no  uniform  visible.  He  wore4 
a  gaudy  uniform  except  when  it  was  dangerous.  This  battle 
made  about  30  Generals  out  of  the4  officers  engaged,  of  whom 
7  were4  Major-Generals.  It  made4  no  Generals  out  of  any  of 


332  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

our  regimental  field  officers;  our  Colonel,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
and  Major,  never  Generals,  have  passed  long  into  oblivion,  un- 
honored  and  unsung.  But  from  the  subordinate  officers  there 

O 

have  been  several,  one  of  them,  Herron,  a  Major-General.  He 
was  Captain  of  Company  "I."  In  other  words,  the  men  fought 
the  battle  of  Wilson  Creek  without  the  inspiration  of  their 
regimental  officers;  each  company  was  a  little  army.  The 
men  knew  what  they  were  there  for, — knew  what  ought  to  be 
done  and  what  had  to  be  done  and  how  to  do  it,  and  each  com 
pany  inspired  itself.  Col.  Andrews,  our  brigade  commander, 

afterwards  general,  says  in  his  report : 

% 

"The  enemy  now  made  another  rally,  and  would  undoubt 
edly  have  forced  us  back  had  not  the  First  Iowa  Regiment,  led 
on  by  General  Lyon  and  Major  Schofield,  arrived  at  the  critical 
moment/'  &c. 

Our  regiment  believes  that  General  Lyon  was  killed  while 
leading  one  of  the  charges  we  made  over  the  ridge  at  an  a^l- 
vancing  body  of  the  enemy;  he  was  not  in  front  but  on  the 
right  end  of  our  line.  We  never  heard  this  disputed  until 
a  week  afterwards,  when  the  First  Missouri  claimed  it  and  also 
the  Second  Kansas.  While  I  did  not  see  him  fall,  I  remember 
that  during  the  shock  in  which  General  Lyon  concededly  was 
killed,  the  word  passed  down  the  line,  "Lyon  is  killed/7  which 
could  hardly  have  been  the  case  if,  during  the  shock,  he  had 
been  killed  with  another  regiment.  Colonel  Mitchell  of  the 
Second  Kansas  claimed  that  he  and  Lyon  were  shot  by  the  same 
detachment  of  the  enemy,  and  that  Lyon  was  leading  the  Second 


HI  STORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY,  333 


Kansas,  but  Mitchell  was  wounded  and  taken  off  the  field  be 
fore  Lyon  was  killed,  hence  his  testimony  is  only  hearsay. 
Frank  J.  Herron,  afterwards  Major-General,  says: 

"At  the  battle  of  Wilson  Creek  the  last  thing  his  [Lyon's] 
eyes  rested  on  was  the  First  Iowa  advancing  in  response  to  his 
order  of  'charge,'  and  he  fell  within  our  ranks." 

History  has  tried  but  cannot  rob  us  of  this.  The  official  re 
port  of  the  Second  Kansas  says  nothing  about  it;  its  Colonel  as 
an  afterthought  claimed  it,  and  the4  Major  of  the  First  (not 
Second)  Kansas  says  in  his  official  report  that  when  Mitchell 
and  Lyon  were  shot  they  were  in  the  rear  of  the  First  Kansas, 
which  is  impossible.  General  Schoheld  does  not  tell  in  his 
official  report,  and  Major  Sturgis  did  not  know  of  the  death 
until  a  half-hour  afterwards.  And  there  is  where  we  an4  with 
"official  reports."  I  well  remember  the  geography  of  the  scene 
and  the  occasion,  and  have  gone  over  the  ground  since  and  have 
studied  it,  but  when  I  take  the  "official  reports"  of  the  move 
ments  of  that  day  I  find  a  jumble  that  it  is  impossible  to  recon 
cile.  And  of  such  is  history  made.  1  ne  same  difficulty  is 
found  in  the  reports  of  the  Confederate  officers;  theirs  are  the 
most  puzzling  of  all.  They  found  twice  as  many  of  our  dead 
on  the  field  as  we  lost.  Besides  this,  we  hauled  the  dead  and 
wounded  of  our  regiment  to  Springfield,  a  detachment  of  wagons 
having  come  down  from  Springfield,  starting  at  sunrise.  About 
a  dozen  men  of  our  company  who  were  wounded  we're  taken  care 
of.  Not  a  man  of  our  company  was  left  behind  on  the  field. 


334  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


We  were  not  routed  and  had  plenty  of  time  to  attend  to  our 
wounded,  and  we  took  good  care  of  every  one  of  them. 

The  Confederate  returns  say  they  lost  of  officers  and  men 
killed  only  263.  I  saw  more  of  them  myself  killed  than  that. 
Is  it  reasonable  that  an  army  of  over  20,000,  that  had  been  en 
gaged  for  six  hours  and  had  been  driven  all  over  the  field,  would 
quit  and  let  us  alone  with  a  loss  of  a  little  over  one  per  cent.? 
No,  they  did  not  let  us  alone  until  they  had  lost  ten  times  that 
amount,  I  have  but  little  faith  in  official  reports  of  battles. 
In  the  official  report  of  the  battle  by  the  Colonel  of  the  "Peli 
can"  regiment  (Third  Louisiana)  I  find  nothing  that  I  recognize 
except  that  he  had  a  contest  when  he  moved  after  Totten's 
battery,  and  that  he  " attacked  the  enemy  and  put  them  to 
flight."  To  this  he  adds: 

''When  the  enemy  made  their  final  retreat  my  men  were  too 
exhausted  to  make  a  successful  pursuit." 

Yet  he.  says  that  his  regiment  began  fighting  at  6  A.  M.  and 
lost  in  killed  during  the  day  only  nine  men.  There  must  be 
some  mistake  about  all  this.  The  Pelican  regiment  were  a 
brave  lot  of  fighters,  and  for  half  an  hour  it  was  a  question 
whether  we  could  push  them  back.  I  saw  a  good  deal  more 
than  nine  of  them  killed,  and  they  did  not  put  anybody  to 
flight,  as  far  as  I  could  see. 

The  Seccsh  called  this  battle  "Oak  Hills."  I  think  that  the 
reason  that  we  were  not  pursued  was  that  about  5000  of  them 
had  started  for  Arkansas  and  could  not  be  halted.  About  4000 
more  were  hors  de  combat;  they  were  very  much  "exhausted," 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  IXFANTRY.  335 


as  the  Colonel  of  the  "Pelicans"  said,  and  besides  all  this  their 
big  supply  train  had  been  burned  up  and  their  mules  scattered 
all  over  the  country.  How  could  they  pursue  us?  It  was  a 
great  sight  to  see  their  wagon-train  burn :  about  five  acres 
of  wagons  parked  axle4  to  axle.  It  was  all  set  on  fire  in  a  dozen 
places  by  Totten's  shells.  I  saw  it  all;  I  watched  every  shell, 
and  the  smoke  rose  in  a  heavy  black  pall  over  the  landscape 
easterly  of  it,  in  which  direction  the  wind  lightly  blew.  \Ye 
could  have  pursued  them.  Six  months  afterwards,  engaged 
in  taking  to  Rolla,  from  the  Pea  Ridge  battle-field,  what  there 
was  left  of  that  Confederate  army,  I  talked  with  many  of  the 
participants  of  the  Wilson  Creek  battle.  They  all  spoke  of  their 
great  losses,  and  of  the  further  fact  that  they  were  going  toward 
Arkansas,  when  they  were  stopped,  and  turned  back  by  mounted 
men  who  announced  that  we  had .  returned  to  Springfield. 
Some  of  the  Seccsh  had  got  25  miles  away  in  their  flight  s:>uth. 
At  a  reunion  many  years  afterwards  an  old  Confederate4 
soldier  told  a  story  of  .the  battle  in  the  following  way: 

"  I  was  on  cam})  guard  that  night  and  had  put  two  roasting- 
ears  in  the  ashes  for  my  breakfast ;  when  the  Yanks  came  in  I 
thought  I  would  eat  my  breakfast  and  go;  I  pulled  out  the  two 
roasting-ears,  but  could  not  eat  them  they  were  so  hot.  I  ran 
about  ten  miles  and  then  stopped  to  eat  my  roasting-ears,  but 
they  were1  still  too  hot,  so  I  kept  right  on  down  into  Arkansaw." 

A  good  story,  of  course  overdrawn,  but  with  a  blue  thread  of 
truth  in  it. 

The  want  of  harmony  between  the  Confederate  generals  helped 
us;  McCullough  was  a  regular  Confederate  general;  while 


336  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

Price  outranked  McCullough,  the  former,  Price,  was  only  a 
Missouri-commissioned  General.  The  general  story  then  was 
that  they  envied  and  disliked  each  other.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  attack  of  Lyon  was  so  unexpected  and  so  furious  that  it 
could  not  be  repulsed,  except  that  it  took  time  and  numbers  to 
do  it.  If  Lyon  had  not  been  hurt  we  should  probably  have 
followed  down  Wilson  creek  and  pursued  the  disorganized  Con 
federate  army,  because4  they  were  burdened  with  mounted  re 
cruits  who  were  so  undisciplined  that  they  did  much  harm  and 
little  good  to  their  own  cause,  and  only  incited  disorder  and 
stampede. 

Concerning  Sigel  I  care  to  say  but  little.  We  Americans 
never  liked  him,  but  the  Germans  did.  He  was  a  little  lean 
fellow,  with  a  most  impertinent  face.  He  wore  spectacles,  and 
kept  looking  around  like  a  weasel.  He  was  said  to  have  had  a 
military  education  and  to  have1  been  engaged  in  the  German 
revolution  and  to  have  fought  battles  in  the  old  country,  and 
that  all  of  his  battles  were  fought  while  getting  away  from  the 
enemy.  The  common  sentiment  and  expression  was,  "  Sigel  is 
hell  on  the  retreat."  At  the  battle  of  Wilson  Creek  he  was  no 
good;  he  was  timid  and  inefficient;  one  of  his  own  men  told 
me  that  Sigel  in  getting  away  from  the  battle,  and  a  little  dis 
tance  therefrom,  rode  his  horse  headlong  and  jumped  him  over 
a  stone  fence.  The  road  was  too  long ;  he  was  cutting  across- 
lots.  He  rode  on  alone.  lie  apparently  lost  entire  control  of 
himself  and  then  of  his  men.  They  drove  the  rebels  from  their 
camp  and  then  stopped  to  plunder  it.  It  was  a  cavalry  camp 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  337 


and  the  number  of  horses  was  very  great ;  each  of  Sigel's  men 
wanted  a  horse  or  two,  and  went  after  them.  They  thought  the 
battle  was  over.  When  the  rebels  had  time  to  form  and  fight 
back,  there  were  no  troops  in  line  of  battle  to  oppose  them,  so 
they  captured  a  lot  of  Sigel's  artillery  and  ammunition  and 
pointing  it  at  us  began  firing  it  over  our  heads.  All  this  took 
place  across  the  creek  from  us,  but  at  a  distance  farther  down. 
We  were  all  very  sore  at  Sigel;  the  Germans  stood  by  him,  and 
so  it  was  that  he  claimed  afterwards  the  right  to  take  Lyon's 
place.  His  brigade  had  been  ruined,  with  a  loss  of  only  15 
killed,  and  we  were  all  afraid  of  his  generalship.  Nevertheless 
he  insisted  on  the  supreme  command. 

Everybody  supposed  until  evening  that  Sigel  was  killed  on 
the  battle-field,  at  least  it  was  thus  reported;  so,  when  we  drew 
back  and  formed  our  new  line  of  battle,  Major  Sturgis  took  com 
mand,  and  held  command  until  after  we  reached  Springfield. 

The  Confederates  had  shown  no  tact  or  generalship.  Their 
way  of  handling  their  men  was  brave  but  crude.  During  the 
battle,  as  fast  as  they  could  get  a  body  of  men  together  they 
went  for  us,  but  they  never  had  enough  men  at  one  time.  I 
am  not  sure  that  we  were  attacked  by  any  very  unequal  num 
bers  at  once.  They  just  came  and  kept  coming  at  us  as  long  as 
they  could  get  any  bodies  of  men  to  hold  together.  They  did 
not  all  come  at  once  or  make  any  combined  attacks.  It  was  a 
process  that  would  have  worn  us  out  if  it  could  have  been  kept 
up  for  a  long  time,  but  it  was  vastly  demoralizing  to  them.  It 
taxed  the  bravery  of  their  troops  and  kept  them  fighting  at  a 


338  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

disadvantage.  They  fought  well  enough,  but  couldn't  get  any 
where.  Their  high  officers  were  no  good ;  they  were  like  ours. 
We  boys  on  the  death  of  Lyon  wanted  Totten  to  take  com 
mand.  His  manner  during  the  fight  and  his  omnipresent  way 
of  getting  around  pleased  us  all.  And  in  addition  to  that  his 
lurid  and  picturesque  language,  and  his  volcanic  commands, 
" Forward  _that  caisson,  G — d  d — n  you,  sir,"  "Cut  that  shell 
one  second  and  give  them  hell,  G — d  dammum,"  pleased  us. 
Totten  in  his  report  tells  how  Lyon  was  twice  wounded  before 
he  was  finally  shot  and  killed.  He  says: 

"About  this  time,  and  just  after  the  enemy  had  been  effect 
ually  driven  back,  as  last  mentioned,  I  met  General  Lyon  for 
the  last  time.  He  was  wounded,  he  told  me,  in  the  leg,  and  I 
observed  blood  trickling  from  his  head.  I  offered  him  some 
brandy,  of  which  I  had  a  small  supply  in  my  canteen,  but  he 
declined  and  rode  slowly  to  the  right  and  front." 

If  Totten  had  only  one  canteen  and  had  "a  small  supply" 
left,  this  must  have  been  about  ten  o'clock.  "Johnny''  Dubois, 
who  had  the  other  battery,  was  a  dapper  young  gentleman, 
brave  and  educated,  but  Totten  was  older  and  was  the  man  we 
liked. 

The  only  officer  we  lost  killed  in  the  battle  was  Captain  A.  L. 
Mason,  of  Co.  "C."  He  lived  in  Muscatine.  He  was  a  brave 
man  and  a  very  capable  officer.  The  first  soldier  we  had  killed 
in  the  battle  was  Shelly  Norman,  from  Muscatine,  Co.  "A." 
He  was  a  young  man,  a  large,  blue-eyed  blonde,  and  a  great 
favorite.  From  his  photograph  the  soldiers'  monument  at 
the  State  capital,  Des  Moines,  was  carved. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  339 


Concerning  General  Lyon,  there  has  been  much  conjecture 
as  to  whether  he  did  the  right  thing.  T  think  that  if  he  had  not 
been  killed  he  would  have  succeeded  beyond  his  most  sanguine 
expectations.  Ho  had  never  boon  in  any  battle  before  that 
amounted  to  anything.  It  was  new  work  for  him,  even  if  ho 
was  a  regular  army  officer.  He  took  dreadful  chances.  He 
never  expected  to  rout  the  armies  of  Price  and  McCullough. 
He  only  intended  to  give  them  a  scan4  and  cause  delay  until  he 
could  get  back  to  Holla.  But  his  raw  soldiers  fought  better 
than  he  thought  they  would.  He  did  not  know  much  about 
war,  but  knew  as  much  as  the  generals  on  the  other  side.  It 
takes  time  and  experience  to  educate  general  officers;  they 
must  fight  sonu1  battles  and  learn  how. 

Lyon  was  a  small  man,  lean,  active  and  sleepless.  Ho  was 
not  an  old  man,  although  he  had  wrinkles  on  the  top  of  his  nose. 
He  had  a  look  of  incredulity;  he  did  not  believe  things.  Ho 
looked  like  an  eccentric  man,  like  an  educated  "crank." 
Ho  looked  like  a  man  who  knew  absolutely  that  he  know.  He 
looked  like  a  man  who  would  be  willfully  insubordinate.  His 
hair  was  sandy-red  and  curly,—  not  kinky,  but  inclined  to  curl. 
His  board  was  worn  full;  it  was  a  thin,  struggling,  meager, 
reddish,  unattractive  beard,  and  he  pulled  on  it  and  jerked  on 
it  when  he  was  talking  decisively,  probably  pulling  some  of  it 
out.  Ho  looked  like  a  man  who  was  ambitious  and  invasive; 
he  was  certainly  hard-working  and  sleepless.  There  was  some 
thing  about  his  eyes  that  made  me  think  they  did  not  match,  but 
I  cannot  describe  how.  His  eyes  seemed  to  look  each  sepa- 


340  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


rately.  He  was  not  a  man  that  had  a  poise.  I  think  that  men 
tally  he  was  a  good  deal  of  a  martinet.  He  believed  in  every 
man  knowing  his  duty  and  doing  it  strictly.  He  was  a  man  ap 
parently  with  whom  friendships  would  not  count.  He  seemed 
to  have  no  kind  words  for  anybody.  He  was  said  to  be  an  un 
compromising  abolitionist.  I  think  that  he  was  a  harsh  judge 
and  disinclined  to  overlook  any  infraction  of  duties  or  military 
rules.  His  mental  activity  must  have  been  intense.  He  be 
lieved  in  an  iron  rule.  He  was  a  man  capable  of  grasping  great 
occasions  and  doing  great  things,  and  at  the  same  time  a  wasp 
to  those  around  him.  When  he  believed  a  thing  he  believed  it 
hard.  He  had  the  courage  and  audacity  of  genius.  I  never 
liked  him,  nor  did  any  of  us  as  far  as  I  ever  could  see,  but  we  did 
believe1  that  ho  was  a  brave  and  educated  officer.  He  struck  us 
all  as  a  man  devoted  to  duty,  who  thought  duty,  dreamed  duty, 
and  had  nothing  but  "duty"  on  his  mind.  In  the  battle  his 
beautiful  dappled  gray  horse  was  also  killed. 

The  body  of  General  Lyon  was  brought  to  Springfield  and  turned 
over  to  Mrs.  Phelps  for  burial,  and  buried  near  our  former  camp. 
It  was  afterwards  taken  up  and  carried  to  Connecticut  and  buried 
where  he  was  born.  His  last  words,  after  he  was  fatally  wounded, 
were,  "Lehman,  I'm  going  up."  Lehman  was  his  orderly. 

One  thing  which  the  battle  of  Wilson  Creek  forever  settled, 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  was  that  a  "mudsill"  would  fight.  And 
another  thing  was  forever  settled,  that  one  Southern  man  could  not 
wliij)  five  Northern  men.  The  delusion  ended  with  Wilson  Creek. 
It  was  never  asserted,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  afterwards. 


JVIAP  OF  THE  ROUTES 

OF  THE  FIRST 

TO  Dira  spurMCvS  v  M:CCULLA!S  si  QBE, 

AKD  To   "WILSON 


CHRIST  I  A  N 


CHAPTER  31. 

Sunset. — Arrived  in  Springfield. — Everything  Hurly-burly. — Train  sent  to 
Rolla. — Paddy  Miles's  Boy. — Shoulder  Painful. — Mace  and  Lize  Turn 
Up.— Mace's  best  "holt."— Two  Roads  to  Rolla.— Valley  Road  Blocked. 
Marched  32  miles  August  llth. — Sturgis  Takes  Command. — Rear  Guard. 
— August  20th. — Arrived  in  St.  Louis. — Earthworks. — Camped  in 
Arsenal. — August  21st. — Arsenal.- — State  Uniforms. — German  Hospi 
tality.—  Fremont's  Order. — Paid  Off. — Provost  Marshal. — Published 
Departure. — 'Reception  at  Home. — Thanks  of  Congress. 

When  we  got  into  Springfield  shortly  after  sunset  we  heard 
that  at  about  noon  the  report  of  the  death  of  Lyon  had  come  in, 
and  that  all  the  army  supplies  and  stores  had  been  sent  toward 
Rolla  and  that  every  merchant  who  could  move  anything  had 
moved  it.  As  wo  came  into  town,  grocery  merchants  hailed 
us  to  come  in  and  get  what  we  wanted.  One  of  our  men  took 
a  ham,  another  found  something  to  put  some  sugar  in;  some 
took  one  thing,  some  another.  One  merchant  pounded  in  a 
sugar  hogshead  on  the  street  and  told  the  boys  to  take  all  of 
it  if  they  could.  It  was  so  with  tobacco  and  nearly  everything 
else.  Union  men  did  not  want  to  furnish  the  rebel  army  with 
supplies.  Everything  was  in  a  hurly-burly,  and  the  officers 
were  all  swearing  at  each  other.  Having  eaten  the  remainder 
of  my  loaf  and  toasted  some1  beef  on  a  ramrod,  I  found  out  that 
all  of  our  blankets  and  camp-kettles  had  been  sent  off  on  the 
wagon-train.  We  wondered  then  why,  if  there  were  so  much 
sugar  and  such  lots  of  supplies  in  Springfield,  our  officers  had 
not  got  them  for  us,  long  before  this.  This  made  us  angry. 

(341) 


342  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


My  companions  and  I  (hen  lay  down  on  the  ground,  carefully 
folded  the  blue  sky  around  us,  and  slept  refreshingly  all  night 
until  early  in  the  morning,  in  the  suburbs  of  Springfield.  The 
sun  rose  then  about  a  quarter  past  five  and  our  rear  guard  did 
not  leave  Springfield  until  six  o'clock.  Up  to  this  time  we  were 
absolutely  unpursued  and  unmolested.  Nor  were  we  alarmed, 
because  we  thought  they  were1  going  in  one  direction  while  we 
were  going  in  another.  All  of  our  wounded  boys  were  got  into 
the  hospital  that  night,  but  finally  we  got  all  those  of  our  com 
pany  into  wagons  and  hauled  them  along.  There  was  where 
"Guthrie  and  the  mule1'  came  in;  the  mule  had  been  kept 
with  the  company  wagon  and  now  we  had  it,  and  the  boys  that 
were  hurt  took  turns  riding  it,  among  whom  was  Miles  ("Paddy 
Miles's  boy"),  who  had  been  hit  with  a  canister-shot  or  a  shrap 
nel-bullet  or  something  on  his  big  brass  army-belt  buckle.  It 
gave  him  a  bellyache  that  was  very  painful  but  very  ludicrous. 
For  a  while  he  walked  a  little,  rode  in  the  wagon  a  little,  and 
rode  some  on  Guthrie's  mule;  but  in  three  days  he  was  "for 
duty."  From  the  night  of  the  ninth  I  never  had  any  blanket. 
Nor  did  I  try  to  get  one.  They  were  full  of  "insects"  and  I 
felt  better  without.  I  had  become  like  a  deer.  Deers  do  not 
need  blankets.  The  weather  was  still  hot,  and  it  had  not  rained. 
I  would  not  have1  carried  a  blanket  if  one  had  been  given  me. 
Before  we  left  Springfield  we  were  loaded  up  with  ammunition. 
I  shot  a  gun  either  right-  or  left-handed,  but  my  left  eye  was 
my  best  long-distance  eye  and  I  had  fired  my  musket  all  the  day 
of  the  battle  left-handed;  the  result  was  that  it  had  kicked  me 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  343 


s  >  (hat  when  I  got  up  Hie  next  day  my  left  shoulder  was  black- 
and-blue  and  painful.  1  kept  wetting  my  shoulder  all  day  from 
my  canteen.  In  addition  to  this,  I  was  stiff  all  over.  It  will 
make  any  man  stiff  to  stay  in  front  of  an  active  Confederate 
battery  for  five  hours. 

Corpular  Mace  and  the  company  dog  "Lize"  turned  up  dur 
ing  the  forenoon  while  marching  away  from  Springfield.  Both 
were  fat  and  hearty.  We  asked  Mace  where  he  had  been  and 
why  he  had  not  helped  us  to  fight  the  rebels;  he  replied,  "Every 
body  has  got  their  best  holts — old  Mace's  best  holt  is  cooking." 

As  stated  before,  there  were  two  roads  from  Springfield  to 
Holla;  one  was  the  "mountain"  road  and  the  other  was  the 
"valley"  road.  On  August  11th,  the  day  after  the  battle, 
we  marched  32  miles,  with  General  Sigel  in  command;  the 
boys  did  not  like  it.  In  the  mean  time  rebel  .sympathizers  on 
horseback  had  spread  the  word  that  we  were  retreating.  The 
"valley"  road  was  the  best  road  for  troops  to  travel  on  and 
the  one  over  which  the  military  trains  and  supplies  generally 
came.  In  order  to  head  off  and  ruin  us  the  people,  along  the 
valley  route  turned  out,  felled  the  trees,  tore  up  the;  bridges 
and  sealed  up  the  road.  We  took  the  other  one,  and  conse 
quently  the  oavaliy  of  the  Confederacy  were  thus  prevented 
from  heading  us  off  and  beating  us  into  Rolla,  even  if  they 
had  wanted  to.  At  about  the  same  time  that  we  went  into 
camp  at  the  end  of  the  day's  march,  on  August  llth,  the  Con 
federate  forces  marched  into  the  deserted  little  city  of  Spring 
field. 


344  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

We  had  now,  on  our  march,  from  five  to  seven  miles  of  wagons 
in  front  of  us.  This  march  of  32  miles  made  the  boys  all  angry. 
It  looked  like  a  flight.  We  got  the  impression  that  Sigel  was 
scared ,  and  had  been  scared  all  the  time.  The  uproar  grew 
and  spread  among  the  men,  and  grew  and  spread  among  the  offi 
cers.  We  did  not  like  to  have  it  appear  that  we  were  running. 
The  men  demanded  that  somebody  else  should  have  charge, 
and  the  officers  took  it  up  and  reiterated  it.  Among  the  upper 
officers  backed  by  the  men  a  great  quarrel  arose.  We  marched 
only  three  miles  the  second  day.  The  officers  finally  demanded 
that  Sigel  step  aside  and  that  Sturgis  should  take  command, 
and  he  did  so.  We  then  proceeded  to  Roll  a  and  arrived  by  easy 
stages,  camping  near  there  on  the  afternoon  of  the  17th:  we 
went  into  town  on  the  19th.  Our  company  acted  as  rear  guard 
on  the  14th,  but  nothing  occurred;  we  were  not  followed  or 
harassed  or  troubled  in  any  way.  As  we  reached  Holla,  Mc- 
Cullough  and  the  southern  troops  inarched  back  into  Arkansas, 
leaving  General  Price  with  his  Missouri  troops  at  Springfield. 

The  First  Iowa  had  left  Renick  and  began  marching  June 
19th.  They  reached  Rolla  and  stopped  marching  on  August 
19th  a  space  of  two  months.  Henry  O'Connor  figured  up  that 
in  those  two  months  we  marched  620  miles,  an  average  of  over 
ten  miles  a  day.  In  our  march  from  Springfield  we  passed 
through  Lebanon  and  Waynesville,  and  crossed  the  Gasconade, 
Roubidoux  and  the  Big  and  Little  Piney  rivers. 

WTe  were  put  into  some  flat  and  box  cars  August  19th,  at  Rolla, 
in  the  afternoon.  We  piled  a  lot  of  dirt  into  the  center  of  each 


HTSTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  345 

car,  held  in  place  by  fence-rails,  and  built  fires  on  the  dirt.  Wo 
boiled  coffee  and  toasted  crackers  and  sang  the  "Happy  Land 
of  Canaan."  We  went  slowly,  inspecting  every  bridge.  We 
were  delivered  near  the  arsenal  in  St.  Louis  toward  evening  of 
the  20th,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  crowd  that  yelled  and  cheered 
as  if  they  could  not  make  noise  enough.  We  were  then  inarched 
into  a  long  room,  where  a  square  meal  was  waiting  on  some  im 
provised  tables.  We  each  ate  enough  for  two  men.  The  moon 
was  full.  We  walked  around  on  the  limited  arsenal-grounds 
in  groups  in  the  moonlight,  and  then  curled  up  on  the  grass 
and  on  the  walks  and  anywhere  we  pleased,  without  blankets, 
and  went  to  sleep  in  peace  and  quiet.  It  is  such  experience  as 
we  had  had  that  makes  a  man  appreciate  a  home.  It  is  only 
through  such  experience  that  homes  can  be  had. 

Coming  into  St.  Louis  we  noticed  earthworks  and  rifle-pits 
extending  for  miles,  as  if  a  hostile  army  had  been  expected. 

On  August  21st  we  got  up  at  4  A.  M.  We  had  got  into  the 
habit  of  getting  up  early,  and  could  not  sleep  in  the  morning. 
Jo  Utter  called  the  roll,  and  when  ho  came  to  "Outline  and  the 
mule"  the  response  was,  "Guthrie  here — mule  on  detached 
duty."  The  mule  had  gone  into  the  Government  corral  at 
Holla.  Shortly  after  daylight  and  before  breakfast  a  great 
accumulation  of  mail  was  delivered  to  us.  We  got  mail  by 
the  bushel — letters  and  newspapers.  Several  letters  from  my 
father  with  money  in  all  came  at  once.  So  with  many  others. 
We  read  our  letters  and  had  breakfast  by  sun-up.  Then  we 
all  went  down  to  -the  Mississippi  river  and  had  fun  in  the  water. 


346  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN.  ^ 

On  return  to  the  arsenal  there  were  boxes  of  uniforms  sent  us 
by  the  State.  The  State  had  been  trying  to  get  us  clothed, 
but  could  not  reach  us.  These  State  uniforms  were  very  neat : 
a  black  hat,  light-blue  trousers,  dress-coat  buttoning  up  to  the 
chin,  made  of  fine  cadet  gray  cloth,  with  light-blue  collar  and 
cuff  trimmings.  I  got  a  uniform  which  fitted  me  as  if  a  tailor  had 
made  it.  In  my  gray  coat  I  looked  like  a  Confederate  officer. 
We  struck  out  for  the  barber-shops  and  bath-houses,  and  threw 
away  everything  we  had.  When  we  got  our  hair  cut  and  got 
shaved  and  dressed  up  we  all  sought  hotels  and  registered.  That 
evening  by  order  we  had  a  final  dress-parade  at  the  arsenal  and 
nobody  would  have  known  the  regiment.  We  then  received  an 
invitation  to  march  next  day  through  the  city  and  let  the  people 
s?e  us.  Next  day,  after  dinner,  we  took  a  march  up  the  city. 
We  marched  solidly  in  column  of  platoons.  I  venture  to  say  that 
nothing  in  St.  Louis  ever  received  a  greater  ovation.  -The  streets 
were  packed  for  miles.  We  were  marched,  or  rather  run,  for 
several  miles  on  the  double-quick.  The  people  were  immensely 
pleased.  That  was  not  the  way  that  soldiers  generally  marched 
through  the  streets.  We  just  went  a-running  and  the  people 
howled  and  yelled.  Besides  all  this  we  were  browned  and  tanned 
up  like  real  sure-enough  soldiers.  This  St.  Louis  reception  was  a 
great  compensation  to  us.  We  felt  very  much  gratified.  When 
we  were  disbanded  that  evening  at  the  arsenal  we  were  told  to  go 
where  we  pleased  and  do  as  we  pleased  and  report  once4  a  day  at 
the  arsenal,  pending  the  making  out  of  the  payrolls.  We  were 
told  that  any  man  could  keep  his  musket  for  eight  dollars,  to 
be  charged  on  the  payroll.  We  then  disbanded.  This  was  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  347 


last  time  the  First  Iowa  Infantry  was  ever  together.  We  paid 
off  Corpular  Mace  and  bade  him  "Good-by."  That  night  I 
found  that  I  could  not  sloop  in  the  hotel.  It  was  hot  arid  stuffy, 
and  I  floundered  around  until  dawn.  I  found  I  could  not 
sloop  in  a  house.  I  was  down  at  the  arsenal  in  the  morning 
at  daybreak  and  found  a  lot  of  the  other  boys  were  feeling  the 
same  as  I.  I  wont  to  sloop  out  in  the  yard  under  a  tree  and 
was  waked  up  about  0  o'clock  by  an  orderly  who  told  me  to 
report  to  our  Lieutenant  at  the  Planter's  House.  I  went  there 
and  he  told  me  that  he  wanted  me  to  work  on  the  payrolls  at 
five  dollars  per  day.  I  began  right  off.  Here  my  knowledge 
of  what  took  place  is  obscured  by  my  being  busy,  but  I  can  say 
this  much,  that  I  never  put  my  head  out  of  the  hotel  but  that- 
having  on  my  First  Iowa  uniform — the  first  German  who  saw 
me  took  me  by  the  arm  to  the  nearest  boor  saloon,  and  after 
introducing  me  to  every  one  he  knew  in  the  room,  said:  "You 
fights  mit  Sigel — you  drinks  mit  me."  I  hardly  dared  appear 
on  the  street,  otherwise  I  would  soon  be  hors  de  combat.  The 
boys  all  said  that  they  never  had  such  a  time  in  their  lives; 
they  were  not  allowed  to  pay  for  anything;  as  soon  as  one  of 
them  gave  out  he  was  carefully  put  into  a  carriage  and  de 
livered  at  the  arsenal.  The  Germans  were  fervently  and  joy 
fully  patriotic;  they  could  not  do  enough  for  anyone  who  had 
"fought  mit  Sigel."  The  intense  rebel  element  in  St.  Louis  was 
still  alive  and  active,  but  it  was  driven  entirely  out  of  sight  by 
the  intensity  and  vigor  of  the  enthusiastic  patriotism  of  the 
Germans.  I  scarcely  dared  to  put  my  head  out  of  the  door  be- 


348  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

cause  I  could  not  receive  their  vociferous  hospitality  and  do 
any  work  on  the  payrolls.  Most  of  our  boys  got,  as  Bill  Huestis 
said,  "fullern  goats/'  but  they  could  not  help  it.  Museums, 
shows,  restaurants  and  everything  else  were  open  to  them  with 
out  money  and  without  price.  The  rebels  got  up  a  song  that 
was  circulated  soon  after,  of  which  the  refrain  was, 

"  I've  been  to  fight  mit  Sigel 
And  dor  G — d  d — n  Dutch." 

The  United  States  will  always  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the 
Germans  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Most  gallantly  did  they  in 
hours  of  danger  serve  their  adopted  country,  and  uphold  its  flag. 

About  this  time  came  out  the  following  congratulatory  order 
from  General  Fremont : 

GENERAL  ORDER,  )  HDQHS.  WESTERN  DEPARTMENT, 

No.  4.  J  SAINT  Louis,  Mo.,  August  25,  1861. 

I.  The  official  reports  of  the  commanding  officers  of  the  forces 
engaged  in  the  battle  near  Springfield,  Mo.,  having  been  re 
ceived,  the  Major-General  commanding  announces  to  the  troops 
embraced  in  his  command,  with  pride  and  the  highest  commen 
dation,  the  extraordinary  services  to  their  country  and  flag  ren 
dered  by  the  division  of  the  brave  and  lamented  General  Lyon. 

For  thus  nobly  battling  for  the  honor  of  their  flag  he  now 
publicly  desires  to  express  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  his  cordial 
thanks,  and  commends  their  conduct  as  an  example  to  their 
comrades  wherever  engaged  against  the  enemies  of  the  Union. 

Opposed  by  overwhelming  masses  of  the  enemy  in  a  numerical 
superiority  of  upwards  of  20,000  against  4300,  or  nearly  five1 
to  one,  the  successes  of  our  troops  were  nevertheless  sufficiently 
marked  to  give  to  their  exploits  the  moral  effect  of  a  victory. 

II.  The  general  commanding  laments,  in  sympathy  with  the 
country,  the  loss  of  the  indomitable  General  Nathaniel  Lyon. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  349 

His  fame  cannot  be  better  eulogized  than  in  these  words  from 
the  official  report  of  his  gallant  successor,  Major  Sturgis,  V.  S. 
Cavalry:  "Thus  gallantly  fell  as  true  a  soldier  as  ever  drew  a 
sword ;  a  man  whose  honesty  of  purpose  was  proverbial ;  a 
noble  patriot,  and  one  who  held  his  life  as  nothing  where  his 
country  demanded  it  of  him."  Let  all  emulate1  his  prowess  and 
undying  devotion  to  his  duty. 

III.  The  regiments  and  corps  engaged  in  this  battle*  will  be 
permitted  to  have  "Springfield"  emblazoned  on  their  colors, 
as  a  distinguishing  memorial  of  their  services  to  the  nation. 

IV.  The  names  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  mentioned  in  the 
official  reports  as  most  distinguished  for  important  services  and 
marked  gallantry  will  be  communicated  to  the  War  Depart 
ment  for  the  consideration  of  the  Government. 

V.  This  order  will  be  read  at  the  head  of  every  company  in 
this  department. 

By  order  of  Major-Gencral  Fremont. 

J.  0.   K ELTON, 

Assistant  Adjutant  General. 

Finally  the  payrolls  were  completed,  and  our  company  was 
the  first  one  paid  off.  When  we  mustered  for  pay  only  two  or 
three4  of  the  boys  kept  their  muskets,  I  being  one  of  the  number; 
I  hung  onto  "Orphan."  But  there  were  eleven  of  the  boys 
who  had  fine  rifles  and  shotguns  which  they  smuggled  through 
as  souvenirs,  though  the  finest  one  was  the  one  that  Seeger  got, 
heretofore  spoken  of.  When  we  came  to  be  paid  off  at  the  rate 
of  eleven  do  ars  per  month,  the  Government  paid  us  cash  for  all 
the  clothes  which  we  did  not  get  and  fifteen  cents  each  for  all  the 
rations  which  we  did  not  get  by  regular  issue;  the  result  was 
that  I  got  three  twenty-dollar  gold-pieces  and  five  or  six  dollars 
of  silver,  for  what  I  had  done4  and  endured.  This  sum  did  not 
look  very  large,  but  it  was  lots  better  than  getting  killed  and 


350  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

being  dead.  The  balance  we  got  in  glory,  which  was  very  ac 
ceptable  and  in  reality  very  valuable.  Then  our  company  wras 
put  on  a  river  boat  and  we  steamed  up  the  Mississippi.  Iliad 
suffered  for  want  of  sloop  in  St.  Louis  because  I  could  not  sloop 
in  a  house,  and  could  not  sloop  if  I  wore  undressed.  Going  up 
on  the  boat  I  slept  much  of  the  time. 

The  only  event  of  importance  on  our  trip  up  the  river  was  the 
quarrel  between  Huestis  and  Corporal  Churubusco.  The  latter, 
as  has  been  stated,  was  left  ill  on  the  porch  of  Congressman 
Phelps,  in  Springfield,  and  did  not  get  into  the  big  battle,  but 
recovered,  and  reached  St.  Louis  with  us.  While  there  he  was 
principally  engaged  in  telling  to  eager  listeners  the  story  of  the 
battle.  He  alwrays  had  a  crowd  standing  around  him  in  wrapt 
attention,  with  their  tongues  hanging  out,  listening  to  his  lurid 
depiction  of  the  fight,  and  what  "my  company"  did.  Some  of 
the  boys  did  not  like  it;  among  them  Huestis.  Besides  that, 
the  Corporal  romanced.  Afterwards,  when  going  up  home  on 
the  boat,  Huestis  followed  the  Corporal  around,  and  when  he 
found  the  latter  filling  up  passengers  and  deck-hands  with  the 
details  of  the  battle  Huestis  would  interrupt  and  say  that  the 
speaker  wras  not  in  the  battle.  Huestis  stayed  with  the  Corpo 
ral  so  persistently  and  shut  him  up  so  completely  that  a  quarrel 
ensued,  which  ended  by  Huestis  saying  to  the  Corporal:  "The 
seven  biggest  liars  in  the  First  Iowa  are  in  Co.  'E.;  I  am  one 
of  them  and  you  are  the  other  six."  Which  was  a  paraphrase 
on  one  of  Lincoln's  stories. 

In  addition  to  there  being  an  intensely  rebel  sentiment,  at 
the  time,  St.  Louis  w^as  full  of  rebel  spies.  They  were  being  ar- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  351 


rested  hourly.  Every  effort  was  made  by  the  secesh  to  foment 
a  rising,  and  to  take  charge4  of  things.  A  General  John  Mc- 
Kinstry  had  been  appointed  Provost  Marshal  General,  and  he 
was  kept  quite  busy.  The  working  of  all  this  was  seen  in  the 
newspaper  article4  that  chronicled  our  departure,  from  the  city. 
On  August  30th,  the  daily  papers  said:  ''Several  regiments 
from  Iowa,  Illinois  and  other  States  departed  yesterday  by 
boat.1'  This  was  all.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  destination 
was  not  given,  nor  any  circumstances.  The  going  home  of 
several  regiments,  if  published,  would  have  brought  joy  to  the 
hearts  of  the  thousands  of  Copperheads  and  spies  who  wanted  to 
see  some  evidence  that  the  Union  cause  was  waning  and  who 
wanted  to  give  the  glad  news  to  their  rebel  friends  in  the  South. 
And  the  condition  of  society  was  such,  and  the  Union  hung  in 
such  a  trembling  balance,  that  such  news  had  to  be  suppressed. 
In  addition  to  this,  we  were  loaded  on  at  night  with  a  picket- 
guard  all  around,  so  that  no  one  could  get  aboard  or  have  a 
chance4  to  ask  questions.  The  war  was  on;  and  St.  Louis  was 
in  the  enemy's  territory.  It  was  on  slave  soil;  but  an  army  of 
loyal  and  brave  Missourians  helped  save  it. 

We  were  slow  in  going  from  St.  Louis  to  our  Iowa  home;  we 
approached  the  city  about  11  A.  \r.,  Saturday,  August  31.  Can 
nons  began  to  boom;  20,000  people  were  at  the4  wharves  to  see 
us  and  welcome  us.  We  sang  the  "Happy  Land  of  Canaan," 
for  the  last  time  as  a  company,  when  the  boat  rounded  to.  There 
stood  two  new-formed  regiments  at  a  present  arms;  we  inarched 
up  between  them  until  we  struck  a  triumphal  arch  and  a  plat 
form  ;  the  Governor  had  to  welcome  us,  and  the  Mayor  had  to 


352  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

respond.  We  had  to  be  thanked  for  not  marching  off  from  the 
field  to  the  sound  of  booming  cannon,  when  a  battle  was  pend 
ing,  as  some  of  the  Eastern  regiments  had  done  when  their  time 
had  expired.  And  we  had  to  be  thanked  for  showing  the  sol 
diers  of  Iowa  to  all  future  generations  how  things  ought  to  be 
done.  And  then  we  were  thanked  for  a  lot  more  things  patriotic 
and  historic,  general  and  special,  and  then  we  were  told  that  we 
each  had  written  his  name  high  on  the  scroll  of  fame,  whatever 
that  was.  We  did  not  care;  much  for  all  this ;  we  saw  the  same 
old  girls  in  the  crowd,  and  we  wanted  to  hear  a  few  words  from 
them.  We  wanted  the  freedom  of  the  city  and  a  welcoming 
address  from  them.  We  wanted  to  make  a  few  sensible  remarks 
ourselves.  We  were  marched  into  a  large  temporarily  con 
structed  "wigwam"  and  were  given  dinner  and  were  waited  on 
by  our  relatives,  whom  we  thus  got  a  chance  to  see.  On  the  out 
side  was  a  rushing,  roaring,  surging  sea  of  humanity  that  wanted 
to  see  and  talk  with  the  boys.  The  two  regiments  protected  us, 
and  when  dinner  was  over  we  were  taken  to  carriages  and  driven 
to  our  homes  or  wherever  we  wanted  to  go.  When  I  got  home  I 
heard  for  the  first  time  that  I  had  been  reported  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Wilson  Creek,  arid  my  mother  had  been  in  agony  and 
suspense  until,  ten  days  after  that,  my  father,  in  response  to 
telegram,  had  found  out  differently.  We  had  been  missed  when 
we  went  off  to  buy  peaches  after  the  battle.  On  Monday,  Sep 
tember  2,  we  gave  an  exhibition  drill  at  the  fair-grounds  to 
15,000  people. 

Four  months  after  this  I  was  riding  from  Holla  to  Springfield 
and  Wilson  Creek  in  an  Iowa  cavalry  regiment  that  became 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY.  353 

noted,  and  I  went  over  the  whole  scene  with  as  strange  feelings 
as  a  mortal  ever  felt. 

Why  should  we  not  thus  go  back  into  the  army?  The  girls 
had  been  praising  us  so  that  we  felt  it  incumbent  on  us  to  prove 
that  we  could  do  it  over  again  if  we  wanted — and  we  did. 

Without  the  inspiration  of  women  there  could  be  no  armies, 
no  great  battles,  and  but  little  of  what  we  call  "history." 

We  all  wound  up  by  getting  the  thanks  of  everybody,  and 
finally  of  Congress.  We  were  all  proud  of  it ;  and  the  glory  of  it 
compensated  us  for  all  of  our  exertions  and  privations,  espe 
cially  as  the  President  ordered  it  read  at  the  head  of  every  regi 
ment  in  the  United  State*.  Here  is  the  way  it  came  as  printed, 
and  when  so  printed  500  or  GOO  of  the  First  Iowa  boys  were  al 
ready  back  again  in  the  service?  for  "three  years  or  during  the 
war/7 — mostly  as  officers. 

THANKS  OF  U.  S.  CONGRESS  TO  GENERAL  LYON'S  COMMAND. 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  ")  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY, 

No.  111.          J  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE, 

WASHINGTON,  December  30,  1861. 

The  following  acts  of  Congress  are  published  for  the  informa 
tion  of  the  Army: 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  expressive  of  the  recognition  by  Congress  of 
the  gallant  and  patriotic  services  of  the  late  Brigadier-General 
Nathaniel  Lyon,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  com 
mand,  at  the  battle  of  Springfield,  Missouri. 
Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  1.  That  Congress 
deems  it  just  and  proper  to  enter  upon  its  records  a  recognition 
of  the  eminent  and  patriotic  services  of  the  late  Brigadier-Gen- 


354  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


oral  Nathaniel  Lyon.  The  country  to  whose  service  he  devoted 
his  life  will  guard  and  preserve  his  fame  as  a  part  of  its  own 
glory. 

2.  That  the  thanks  of  Congress  are  hereby  given  to  the  brave 
officers  and  soldiers  who,  under  the  command  of  the  late  General 
Lyon,  sustained  the  honor  of  the  flag,  and  achieved  victory 
against  overwhelming  numbers  at  the  battle  of  Springfield,  in 
Missouri ;  and  that,  in  order  to  commemorate  an  event  so  hon 
orable  to  the  country  and  to  themselves,  it  is  ordered  that  each 
regiment  engaged  shall  be  authorized  to  bear  upon  its  colors 
the  word,  "Springfield,"  embroidered  in  letters  of  gold.  And 
the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  requested  to  cause 
these  resolutions  to  be  read  at  the  head  of  every  regiment  in 
the  Army  of  the  United  States. 

Approved  December  24,  1861. 

V.  The  President  of  the  United  States  directs  that  the  foregoing 
joint  resolution  be  read  at  the  head  of  every  regiment  in  the  Army 
of  the  United  States. 

By  command  of  Major-General  McClellan : 

L.   THOMAS,   Adjutant-General. 


Here  I  bid  adieu  to  the  First  Iowa  Infantry  and  the  reader. 
I  am  glad  my  life  has  been  spared,  that  I  am  hale  and  hearty, 
that  my  diary  and  memorandums  were  preserved,  and  that  I 
could  write  this  book.  "CORPULAR  LINK." 

Finished  this  Sept,  1,  1907,  at  Topeka,  Kansas. 


THE  TROOPS  OF  MAJOR  STURGIS  355 


APPENDIX  A. 


[Extract  from  article  in  Vol.  39,  page  341,  Journal  Military  Service. 
Written  by  Brigadier-General  Henry  Clay  Wood,  IT.  S.  A.] 

"On  the  fifth  of  June,  1861,  a  detachment  of  two  hundred  and 
eight  recruits — one  hundred  and  fifty  assigned  to  the  Regiment 
of  Mounted  Riflemen,  twenty-eight  to  Troops  B  and  G,  First 
Dragoons,  and  thirty  to  Troops  G  and  I,  Second  Dragoons,  all 
which  organizations  were  then  stationed,  I  think,  in  New  Mex 
ico — arrived  at  Fort  Leavenworth  from  Carlisle  Barracks,  Penn 
sylvania,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Washington  L.  Elliott, 
Mounted  Riflemen. 

"Some  fifty  of  these  recruits  were  attached  as  artillery  to  a 
battery  of  four  guns,  immediately  commanded  by  Second  Lieu 
tenant  John  V.  Du  Bois,  Mounted  Riflemen.  The  remaining 
one  hundred  and  fifty-odd  were  organized  into  two  companies, 
armed  as  infantry  and  commanded,  infantry  and  artillery,  by 
Captain  Elliott. 

"The  command  left  Fort  Leavenworth  June  12th,  and  at  first 
these  recruits  with  other  troops  were  engaged  in  dispersing  rebel 
organizations  at  Liberty  and  Independence,  Missouri;  later,  all 
the  forces,  assembling  at  Kansas  City,  marched  through  western 
Missouri  to  join  the  command  of  General  Nathaniel  Lyon,  soon 
to  move  south  from  Boonville,  Missouri. 

"The  column  was  commanded  by  Major  Samuel  D.  Sturgis, 
First  Cavalry,  and  consisted  of  Troop  C,  Second  Dragoons; 
Troops  B,  C,  D  and  I,  First  Cavalry;  Companies  B,  C,  and  I), 


356  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 

First  Infantry;  E,  Second  Infantry;  Captain  Elliott's  Artillery 
and  Infantry  Recruits ,  of  the  United  States  Army ;  and  the  First 
and  Second  Regiments  of  Kansas  volunteers,  about  2200  men. 
Having  united  with  General  Lyon's  column  of  about  2400  men, 
all  the  troops  called  the  Army  of  the  West  were  concentrated  in 
the  vicinity  of  Springfield,  Missouri. 

"On  July  24th  Captain  Elliott*  was  relieved  from  duty  with 
the  recruits  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  Troop  D,  First 
Cavalry ;  Company  B,  of  these  recruits  serving  as  infantry,  was 
attached  to  the  battalion  of  the  Second  Infantry,  and  Company 
A  of  these  Mounted  Rifle  and  Dragoon  recruits  (seventy-seven) 
was  attached  to  the  First  Infantry  battalion;  a  detachment  of 
General  Service  recruits,  then  commanded  by  Captain  Sweeney, 
was  broken  up  and  assigned  to  Companies  B,  C  and  D,  First 
Infantry,  in  such  manner  as  to  equalize  the  strength  of  these 
companies." 

*  Captain  Elliott  became  Major-General  and  commander  of  cavalry  on 
the  Potomac.  Afterwards  the  writer  of  this  book  was  chosen  by  him  as  an 
Aide-de-Camp. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  IXFAXTRY.  357 


APPENDIX  B. 


I  append  hereto  a  roster  of  the  entire  regiment.  I  have  tried 
to  make  this  roster  as  accurate  as  possible.  I  have  not  depended 
upon  the  Adjutant  General's  Report  of  Iowa,  but  have  corrected 
it  by  all  available  means,  among  which  arc  the  records  of  the 
Pension  Bureau  and  the  War  Department  at  Washington.  The 
report  of  the  Adjutant -General  of  Iowa  was  very  faulty;  it  was 
made  during  the  stress  of  war.  I  have  corrected  298  mistakes 
and  omissions  in  the  names  of  the  officers  and  men.  I  am  not 
yet  sure  that  I  have  the  roll  perfect.  I  have  all  the  names,  but 
some  of  them  seem  to  have  been  spelled  more  than  one  way. 

ROSTER  OF  FIELD  AND  STAFF. 

John  F.  Bates..  .  .  .  .Colonel. 

William  H.  Merritt Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Asbury  B.  Porter Major. 

George  W.  Waldron Adjutant. 

Theodore  Guelich Quartermaster. 

William  H.  White Surgeon. 

Hugo  Reichenbach Assistant  Surgeon. 

Isaac  K.  Fuller,  Pvt.  Co.  I. .  .Acting  Chaplain. 

Charles  E.  Compton Sergeant-Major. 

William  W.  Hughes Quartermaster  Sergeant. 

Samuel  Holmes Hospital  Steward. 

Thomas  H.  Cummings Drum-Major. 

Henry  M.  Kilmartin Fife-Major. 


358  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "A,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Markoe  Cummings Captain. 

Benjamin  Beach First  Lieutenant. 

George  A.  Satterlee Second  Lieutenant. 

Hugh  J.  Campbell First  Sergeant. 

William  C.  Fcssler Second  Sergeant. 

Christian  Mellinger. Third  Sergeant. 

William  Jackson First  Corporal. 

Henry  Narvis Second  Corporal. 

Joseph  Bilkay Third  Corporal. 

Henry  Tschillard Fourth  Corporal. 

Thos.  H.  Cummings Musician. 

George  W.  Connor Musician. 

.  PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Baird,  Robert  B.  Dean,  Edwin. 

Barrick,  Joseph.  Deming,  Charles. 

Bartholomew,  Chas.  Donley,  Felix. 

Biles,  Joseph.  Evans,  Henry. 

Bitzer,  Galbraith.  Ewing,  David  L. 

Blackeart,  Christian.  Fengle,  Peter. 

Brown,  Newton  M.  Fisher,  Francis. 

Cargill,  Alexander.  Fisher,  William. 

Clark,  Judson.  Fitzgerald,  Ezekiel  G. 

Compton,  Charles  E.  Fobes,  Reuben. 

Crabb,  John.  Geiger,  Francis. 

Creitz,  Lewis  F.  Getter,  William. 

Cummins,  Alex.  S.  Gifford,  Edmund  J. 

Daniels,  George.  Greenhow,  George  F. 

Davis,  Peter  E.  Hacker,  Adam. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA   INFANTRY. 


359 


Heat  on ,  Francis  M. 
Hine,  Charles  W. 
Holmes,  Ephraim  C. 
Holmes,  Samuel. 
Hoover,  Charles. 
Hyink,  Henry. 
Ingersoll,  Robert  M. 
Jackson,  Bennet  F. 
Johnson,  Samuel. 
Jones,  Thomas. 
Kean,  Addison. 
Kearn,  Christian. 
Keife,  Mathias. 
Kenneday,  James. 
Kepner,  Edward. 
Kilvington,  George. 
Kilvington,  John. 
Kirkendoll,  Edward. 
Lantz,  George. 
Lantz,  Samuel. 
Lobler,  Joseph. 
Long,  Newton  G. 
Lucas,  Jesse. 
Maginnis,  Thomas. 
Manly,  Samuel. 
Mikesell,  Martin  L. 
Miller,  Alexander. 
Miller,  John  W. 
Moeller,  Werner. 

Total  in  Company,  100. 


Moritz,  Charles. 
Morton,  Thomas. 
Norman,  Shelly. 
O'Connor,  Henry. 
Orr,  Samuel  T. 
Peckham,  George  0. 
Perry,  Henry. 
Pratt,  James  G. 
Richardson,  Joseph  W. 
Richter,  Henry. 
Reiley,  George  B. 
Ritchie,  William  S. 
Ritz,  Christian  S. 
Reed,  Charles. 
Rupp,  William  S. 
Seibert,  Henry. 
Sergall,  John  H. 
Shaw,  Francis  L. 
Stein,  Madison  B. 
Stockon,  Charles. 
Strohm,  John. 
Sweeny,  David. 
Taylor,  William  G. 
Upham,  Emerson  0. 
White,  Hiram  A. 
Wiley,  John  J. 
Woodward,  Asa. 
Yazell,  John  J. 
Zollner,  John. 


360  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN, 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "B,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Bradley  Mahana Captain. 

Harvey  Graham First  Lieutenant.  • 

Andrew  Jackson  Rians Second  Lieutenant. 

Lewis  William  Talbott First  Sergeant. 

Charles  Newhall  Lee Second  Sergeant. 

Zachariah  Shearer Third  Sergeant. 

John  Flenry  Gurkce Fourth  Sergeant. 

Abraham  Lcnington  McPherson..  .First  Corporal. 

James  Robertson Second  Corporal. 

John  Washington  Kinsey Third  Corporal. 

Phillip  Thomas Fourth  Corporal. 

Robert  Steward  Scott Musician. 

Andrew  H.  Statler Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Allen,  Mark  D.  Cleveland,  David. 

Austin,  Samuel  Bruce.  Corlett,  Josiah  Kinley. 

Ballard,  Henry  Wyman.  Craig,  Loren  Russell. 

Banks,  Francis  Bradley.  Decamp,  William  Miller. 

Besett,  John.  Dennis,  George  Washington. 

Bick,  John.  Dillon,  Loyd  Haynes. 

Bick,  William.  Douglass,  Cyrus. 

Boarts,  James  Andrew.  Edgington,  James  Edward. 

Boots,  John  Wesley.  Ferguson,  William. 

Brooks,  McHenry.  Ford,  Ira. 
Brown,  Alexander  Hamilton.          Gettings,  James  Andrews. 

Burns,  Patrick  Henry.  Goldsmith,  Oliver  Burdett. 

Butler,  William.  Goodrell,  Win.  H.  Harris:m, 

Campion,  Mitchell.  Hampton,  Rich.  Malcoin. 


-  ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


361 


Harbet,  Thomas  Jefferson. 
Harbert,  William  Daniel. 
Hills ,  William  Henry. 
Hilton,  Chas.  Henry. 
Hirene,  Timothy. 
Holding,  Nelson. 
Hoyt,  Thomas. 
Hughes,  Wm.  Wallace. 
Jackson,  Leander  Mavill. 
Judson,  Wm.  H.  Harrison. 
Lake,  Constance  Sweeny. 
Langdon,  Burton  Everington. 
Lattie,  Joseph  Franklin. 
Lewis,  James  Miller. 
Lindsey,  Thos.  Wilson. 
Linn,  Richard. 
Long,  Alexander  Q. 
Lurwick,  Jacob  George. 
McGuire,  John  Thomas. 
Madden,  Lemuel. 
Marvin,  William  Edgar. 
Moffitt,  William. 
Morrison,  Thomas. 
Muncy,  William  Redner. 
Murray,  James. 
Parrott,  Francis  Asbury. 
Payne,  Thomas. 

Total  in  Company,  95. 


Pinny,  Alvin  Wilbur. 
Pumphrey,  Horace  Boone. 
Reynolds,  John  Nelson. 
Rodgers,  Wm.  Lafayette. 
Sailer,  Henry  William. 
Sale,  Timothy  Hollister. 
Schell,  Joseph  Franklin. 
Schell,  William  John. 
Sedgwick,  Samuel  Woolford, 
Shockey,  George  Hoblitzell. 
Simmonds,  David  Miller. 
Smith,  Aaron  Miller. 
Smith,  Alcines  Townsend. 
Smith,  George  William. 
Sweetman,  John  Wesley. 
Teeter,  John. 

Thompson,  Charles  Edward. 
Tillottson,  Theodore. 
Trask,  Eugene  Frederick. 
Trimble,  James  Harrison. 
Truesdell,  James  Theodor. 
Tyler,  William. 
Walker,  Alonzo. 
Walters,  George  Alexander. 
Watson,  James. 
Wheeler,  John  Henry. 
Wolf,  Wilson  Wesley. 


362  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "C,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Alexander  L.  Mason Captain. 

William  Pursell First  Lieutenant. 

William  F.  Davis Second  Lieutenant 

William  Grant First  Sergeant. 

Charles  G.  Hayes Second  Sergeant. 

Samuel  V.  Lambert Third  Sergeant. 

Alexander  Buchanan Fourth  Sergeant. 

Walter  F.  Dcvereux First  Corporal. 

Edmond  L.  Swem Second  Corporal. 

Abram  N.  Snyder Third  Corporal. 

Benjamin  S.  Stone Fourth  Corporal. 

Leonidas  Fowler Musician. 

Enoch  0.  Lundy Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Ake,  Samuel.  Cassell,  Eri  F. 

Armstrong,  Robert.  Chamberlain,  Henry  C. 

Augc,  Marcel.  Cochrane,  Matthew. 

Baxter,  George  W.  Cogdal,  John  F.  M. 

Beatty,  John.  Couch,  Edward  L. 

Bennett,  Orlando  V.  Crooker,  Lewis  M. 

Bouton,  Jonathan  B.  Crow,  John  H. 

Branson,  William.  Crow,  Joseph. 

Bridges,  Jackson  J.  Davis,  Zechariah. 

Buckingham,  Silas.  Denton,  Jacob. 

Buke,  William.  Etherton,  Moses. 

Burns,  Edward  C.  Fligor,  David  M. 

Burris,  Benjamin.  Fobes,  Benjamin  F. 

Butman,  Asa.  Fox,  Charles  S. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA   INFANTRY. 


363 


Friend,  William  H. 
Fuller,  Henry  M. 
Gaskill,  David. 
Gates,  John  C. 
Gertenback,  John. 
Gibson,  Charles  D. 
Graves,  Americas. 
Graw,  John  M. 
Hafemeister,  Rudolph. 
Hamilton,  Frank  L. 
Harriman,  John  A. 
Hart,  William. 
Heckler,  George  W.  • 
Hendrickson,  Andrew. 
Huxly,  E.  Ritchards. 
Jenkins,  Samuel. 
Jewell,  Aaron  V. 
Kane,  John. 
Karn,  Jacob. 
Kelley,  Pierce. 
Kent,  Jeptha  L. 
Lane,  Joseph. 
McCoy,  Richard  H. 
McNatton,  Joseph  H. 
Madden,  Richard  R. 
Manly,  William. 
Meurer,  Gotleib. 
Michener,  Charles  C. 

Total  in  Company,  97. 


Mingo,  Laurence. 
Morgrige,  Henry  8. 
Narves,  Albert. 
Norton,  Jerome. 
Ogilvie,  William. 
Oldridge,  Jasper  D. 
Patton,  Eubert. 
Parkin,  William. 
Pickering,  William. 
Pursell,  Thaddeus  C. 
Ray,  Andrew. 
Ricketts,  Jacob  H. 
Schenck,  Charles  G. 
Schultz,  Frederick  G. 
Shane,  Abram  A. 
Skinner,  William  J. 
Stewart,  Samuel. 
Stewart,  William  M. 
Stone,  William  G. 
Straub,  Charles  H. 
Tompkins,  Silas  W. 
Tullis,  Smith  II. 
Twigg,  William  M. 
Underwood,  James  R, 
Van  Buren,  Edwin  P. 
Walters,  Cyrus. 
Wright,  Lyman. 
Wright,  Oscar. 


364  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "D,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Charles  Leopold  Matthies Captain. 

Mathias  Keller Captain. 

Mathias  Keller First  Lieutenant. 

Joseph  Enderle First  Lieutenant. 

Theodor  Waldschmidt Second  Lieutenant. 

Joseph  Enderle Second  Lieutenant, 

William  Alex.  Haw First  Sergeant. 

George  Schaefer Second  Sergeant. 

Henry  Rose Third  Sergeant. 

Theodor  Waldschmidt Fourth  Sergeant. 

Charles  Knapp First  Corporal. 

Charles  Leopold Second  Corporal. 

Frank  H.  Westerman Third  Corporal. 

George  Willett Fourth  Corporal. 

William  Christ Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Bates,  Lewis.  Griinschlag,  Philip. 

Becker,  Earnest.  Henn,  John. 

Bickler,  Lewis.  Henrichs,  Anton. 

Bonitz,  Edmond.  Hille,  Frank. 

Bouquet,  Nicolas.  Hohkamp,  Casper. 

Bruokner,  Charles.  Hohkamp,  Henry. 

Buss,  William.  Hohmbrecher,  Gustav. 

Eberhard,  Herrmann.  Hoog,  Stephen. 

Fahr,  Ferdinand.  Hoschle,  Frederic. 

Feiertag,  Laurens.  Hupprick,  Anton. 

Griese,  Christ.  Jenger,  Joseph. 

Grothe,  William.  Jockers,  Charles. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY, 


365 


Kamphofner,  Fred. 
Kasiske,  Lewis. 
Kaskel,  Julius  Win. 
Kettner,  Herrmann. 
Klay,  John  Ulric. 
Klein,  Henry. 
Klein,  Theobokl. 
Klett,  Sebastian. 
Knaup,  Theodor. 
Kohller,  John. 
Koppenhofer,  Jacob. 
Kurnmer,  Henry  Chas. 
Lang,  Philip. 
Leonhard,  Frederic. 
Limburg,  Conrad. 
Limle,  Charles  Fred. 
Lotz,  Adolph. 
Mersch,  Caspar. 
Merz,  Robert. 
Merz,  Samuel. 
^lillcr,  August. 
Mohn,  Peter. 
Nagel,  Andre. 
Nesselhaus,  August. 
Ott,  Godfred. 
Otto,  John  C. 
Pieper,  John  Christ. 
Rager,  Christ. 
Rinkcr,  Adolph. 

Total  in  Company,  94. 


Rommel,  Fridolin. 
Romminger,  John. 
Rothenberger,  John. 
Rotteck,  Ernest. 
Riiokert,  John. 
Ruff,  George. 
Schaeffer,  Gregor. 
Schaelling,  Henry. 
Scheuermann,  Jacob. 
Schlapp,  George. 
Scholl,  Jacob. 
Scholtz,  Robert. 
Schourne,  Martin. 
Schramm,  Frederic. 
Schrey,  Christ. 
Schulz,  August. 
Schulz,  Charles. 
Sequin,  David. 
Soechtig,  Fred.  Charles. 
Starkman,  William. 
Stumppy,  Henry. 
Wagner,  Charles. 
Wagner,  John  Conrad. 
Wasmer,  John. 
Weber,  John. 
Weber,  Mickel. 
Wilde,  Christ, 
Wolhaf,  Gottlieb. 


366  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "E,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


George  F.  Strcapcr Captain. 

John  C.  Abcrcrombie First  Lieutenant. 

George  AV.  Pierson Second  Lieutenant, 

Joseph  LTtter First  Sergeant. 

John  Reed Second  Sergeant. 

Abram  A.  Harbach Third  Sergeant. 

Spencer  Johnson Fourth  Sergeant. 

Joseph  0.  Shannon First  Corporal. 

Robert  N.  Heisey Second  Corporal. 

William  J.  Fuller Third  Corporal. 

Barton  T.  Ryan Fourth  Corporal. 

Henry  M.  Kilmartin Musician,  Fife. 

William  I.  Tizzard Musician,  Drum. 

Charles  J.  May Company  Clerk. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Adams,  Martin.  Cameron,  Charles  0. 

Armstrong,  Robert  R.  Campbell,  Wm.  J. 

Barnard,  John.  Canfield,  Thomas  S. 

Beatty,  John  N.  Carter,  John. 

Beltzer,  John  A.  Chapman,  Samuel  M. 

Boeckman,  John  A.  Collins,  John. 

Bradley,  George.  Cousins,  Henry  C. 

Bradley,  Jacob  S.  Crcighton,  Hugh  L. 

Brandebury,  Wm.  F.  Creighton,  Samuel  H. 

Bristow,  George  W.  Crowder,  John  E. 

Brown,  Edward  P.  Deadrick,  Frederick  J. 

Bruckner,  Joseph.  Delaplaine,  Joshua  W. 

Bush,  Loren  T.  Donsayes,  Charles  J. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA   INFANTRY. 


367 


Dreulard,  James. 
Dreulard,  John  S. 
Eads,  Oliver  P. 
English,  James  M. 
Espy,  John. 
Fairbanks,  Augustus  J. 
Field,  Henry  A. 
Galen,  Peter. 
Ganz,  William. 
Gregory,  William. 
Grimes,  Jacob  M. 
Guthrie,  James  H. 
Hart,  Thomas  H. 
Heizer,  Samuel  B. 
Hills,  Henry  A. 
Huestis,  William  P. 
Jaggar,  Myron  M. 
Johnson,  Augustus. 
Johnson,  Frank. 
Johnson,  Frank  B. 
Jordon,  William  F. 
Kimball,  Charles  H. 
King,  Charles  P. 
Lawrence,  George. 
Lint  on,  Ira. 
McBeth,  Brice. 
McClure,  Joseph  D. 
McLanc,  Richard. 
Martin,  Stephen. 
Mat  hews,  Isaac  P. 

Total  in  Company,  99. 


Mat  hews,  John  P. 
Mat  son,  Daniel. 
Merrill,  Alfred  L. 
Miles,  Reuben. 
Nesselhouse,  Phillip. 
Newland,  John  E. 
Payne,  William  R. 
Pollock,  Robert  M. 
Rhamey,  Richard  M 
Riggs,  Charles. 
Roberts,  Aurelius. 
Robinson,  Henry  N. 
Rogers,  Newton  J. 
Schaar,  Joseph. 
Schramm,  Ernest. 
Seeger,  John  G. 
Shedd,  James  A. 
Shifter t,  Reuben. 
Smith,  James. 
Strasler,  Mark. 
Stypes,  Charles. 
Swaggart,  John  P. 
Sy ester,  William  H. 
Ulrich,  Albert. 
Vannice,  Robert  R. 
Wall,  Andrew  F. 
Ware,  Eugene  F. 
Wetzel,  Jerry  K. 
Williams,  Clarence. 


368  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "F,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Samuel  M.  Wise Captain. 

George  A.  Stone : First  Lieutenant. 

Simeon  F.  Roderick Second  Lieutenant. 

Thomas  J.  Pugh First  Sergeant. 

Henry  C.  Jennings Second  Sergeant. 

Daniel  C.  Strang Third  Sergeant. 

James  W.  Clark Fourth  Sergeant, 

George  W.  Field   First  Corporal. 

Clement  M.  Bird Second  Corporal. 

Nathaniel  T.  Smith Third  Corporal. 

Jonathan  R.  Whippo Fourth  Corporal. 

William  K.  Leisenring Musician. 

Resen  S.  Buffington Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Adams,  Samuel  A.  Buckingham,  Goodcil,  Jr. 

Airey,  Joseph  P.  Clark,  James  S. 

Bailey,  Benjamin  F.  Conklin,  William. 

Balbuch,  Conrad.  Connor,  Ansel-  B. 

Barker,  Charles  E.  Cook,  John  P. 

Barr,  George  W.  Cornwell,  Alpheus. 

Bartow,  Cyrus.  Cramer,  George. 

Benson,  Henry  H.  Davis,  Joseph  B. 

Bereman,  Tilghman  H.  De  Long,  Daniel  J. 

Bowman,  Francis  M.  Dewey,  William  W. 

Boyles,  William  A.  Fegtley,  Samuel  M. 

Brooks,  William  S.  Fluke,  Lyman  L. 

Brothers,  John.  Griffith,  James  M. 

Brown,  Richard  T.  Hamilton,  Robert  W. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


369 


Hanson,  Charles  A. 
Hardenbrook,  Thos. 
Hartman,  Joseph. 
Heacock,  William  A. 
Hemenway,  Edward. 
Hobart,  Franklin. 
Hobart,  William  K. 
Holland,  James  C. 
Howe,  Warrington  P. 
Lane,  Groves  M. 
Lucas,  Benjamin  W. 
McClure,  Andrew  J. 
McGrew,  John  P. 
McMillan,  Jos.  W. 
Mann,  Franklin. 
Marsh,  Thomas  J. 
Martin,  Edward  P. 
Miller,  Thomas  B. 
Millspaugh,  John  R. 
Mitchell,  David  T. 
Molesworth,  Jos.  S. 
Moore,  James  M. 
Morehead,  John  M. 
Moult  on,  Charles  0. 
Munger,  Jacob  M. 
Murphy,  William  L. 
Murray,  Edwin  H. 
Parker,  Hiram. 

Total  in  Company,  97. 


Pennock,  Jesse  D. 
Pollack,  Nathaniel  W. 
Porter,  Watson  B. 
Rhodes,  Isaac  N. 
Ritner,  Jacob  B. 
Roberts,  John  W. 
Rock,  Francis. 
Roseman,  James. 
Ross,  William  F. 
Satterthwaite,  Joshua  W. 
Schreiner,  Edward  L. 
Serviss,  Lorenzo. 
Shulz,  William. 
Smith,  George  W. 
Stevens,  Andrew  B. 
Stubbs,  Daniel. 
Stubbs,  Jesse. 
Thompson,  Smith. 
Tibbetts,  James  M. 
Van  Arsdale,  Frank  B. 
Van  Arsdale,  James  0. 
Virgin,  Alexander  C. 
Virgin,  William  T. 
Whippo,  Jacob  V. 
White,  James  H. 
White,  William  L. 
Wooderow,  Charles  W. 
Zollars,  Thomas  J. 


370  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "G,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Augustus  Wentz Captain. 

Theodore  Guelich First  Lieutenant. 

Johannes  Ahlefeldt Second  Lieutenant, 

Ernst  Clausscn First  Sergeant. 

Louis  Schoen Second  Sergeant. 

Frank  Dittrnann Third  Sergeant. 

Charles  F.  Stiihmer Fourth  Sergeant. 

William  S.  Mackenzie First  Corporal. 

Gustav  A.  Koch Second  Corporal. 

Claus  Rohwer Third  Corporal. 

John  F.  Doerscher Fourth  Corporal 

Theodore  Rutonbeck Musician. 

August  Anzorge : Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Altmann,  Charles.  Einfeldt,  Peter. 

Arp,  Ernst.  Enderle,  Anton. 

Asbahr,  Hans.  Enderlc,  Joseph. 

Averbeck,  Heinrich.  Feistkorn,  Charles. 

Baasch,  Heinrich  W.  Fellentreter,  Andreas. 

Barche,  Christian.  Fey,  Christian. 

Becker,  Peter.  Fischer,  Julius  F. 

Benedix,  Christian.  Fridholdt,  Friedrich. 

Brammcr,  Belter.  Giesecke,  August. 

Brammer,  Hans.  Gradert,  George. 

Caldwell,  James  B.  Hansen,  Johannes. 

Dose,  Fritz.  Hemmelberg,  Heinrich. 

Dresky,  William  Von.  Hess,  Fritz. 

Eggers,  Johannes.  Jurgensen,  Sievert. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Karstens,  Heinrich. 
Kellemen,  Alexander. 
Kiel,  William. 
Koch,  Ferdinand  W. 
Kohlbry,  August. 
Kortum,  Christian. 
Kreiborn,  Fritz. 
Liit hen,  Johann. 
Lirthje,  Marx. 
Magnus,  Emil. 
Massow,  Heinrich. 
Matthes,  Carl. 
Matthiessen,  Jens. 
Meisner,  Armilius. 
Moeller,  Claus  H. 
Murbach,  Johann  Jacob. 
Nehm,  Hans  Juergen. 
Neire,  August. 
Niemann,  Heinrich. 
Nissen,  Edward. 
Pahl,  Henry. 
Paulsen,  Claus  F. 
Peters,  Johann  H. 
Petersen,  Christian. 
Petersen,  Fritz. 
Petersen,  Johann. 
Pfaff,  Jacob. 

Total  in  Company,  95. 


Popp, Johann  H. 
Prien,  Friedrich  Joachim. 
Rahn,  Hans. 
Reimers,  Hans. 
Reinhardt ,  Berhnard . 
Roddewig,  Friedrich. 
Rohde,  Heinrich. 
Rohlf,  August. 
Rosburg,  Heinrich. 
Schliiriz,  Hans. 
Schnepel,  Louis. 
Schroepfer,  Yost. 
Selken,  Henry. 
Sickel,  Carl. 
Sievers,  Heinrich. 
Sloanaker,  Theodore  A. 
Spohr,  William  H. 
Steffen,  August. 
Stisser,  Franz. 
Stoltenberg,  Heinrich. 
Tadewald,  Conrad. 
Tank,  Juergen. 
Timm,  August. 
Voss,  Christian. 
Voss,  Hans. 
Wegner,  Friedrich. 
Wright,  Heinrich. 


372  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "H,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Frederick  Gottschalk Captain. 

Jacob  Buttle First  Lieutenant. 

Joseph  Geiger Second  Lieutenant, 

Julius  Leinemann     First  Sergeant. 

Frederick  Dettmer Second  Sergeant. 

Charles  SchaefYer Third  Sergeant. 

Theodore  Stimming Fourth  Sergeant. 

Henry  Meyer First  Corporal. 

Frank  Rhombcrg Second  Corporal. 

Frederick  Gallee Third  Corporal. 

Frederick  Stange Fourth  Corporal. 

Abraham  Herbst Musician. 

IJlrich  Wyss Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Aeby,  Benoit.  Eichman,  Nicolas. 

Amberg,  Ernst.  Emnett,  Joseph. 

Becker,  William.  Fischer,  Louis. 

Bloechlinger,  Antony.  Frey,  John. 

Bohlig,  John.  Goennel,  Louis. 

Bossier,  John.  Groetzinger,  Theodore. 

Brassel,  Ulrich.  Guillien,  Emil. 

Bruderlin,  Albert.  Haenni,  Samuel. 

Budden,  Henry.  Henke,  Charles. 

Buehler,  George.  Hoeffle,  Jacob. 

Buehler,  Leonhard.  Hoffman,  John. 

Conzett,  David.  Horr,  George. 

Deggendorff,  Frank.  Jaeger,  Bernard. 

Doerr,  Adam.  Jaeggi,  Peter. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


373 


Jordan,  James. 
Jungk,  August. 
Kargel,  George. 
Keene,  James. 
Krueger,  Henry. 
La  Nicca,  Simon. 
Lamport,  John. 
Lauffcr,  Henry. 
Lichtenhain,  Jesse. 
May,  Victor. 
Merz,  Edward. 
Meyer,  Dietrich. 
Meyer,  William. 
Mohrmann,  Adolph. 
Moy,  Rudolf. 
Nessler,  Mathias. 
Otte,  Frank. 
Rein,  Jacob. 
Roehl,  Charles. 
Roepe,  John. 
Sauer,  Henry. 
Schaus,  Mathias. 

Total  in  Company,  85. 


Schoeni,  Andrew. 
Schueter,  Conrad. 
Schumacher,  Leo. 
Siegrist,  David. 
Steimle,  John. 
Tuegel,  Herrman. 
Valerius,  Jacob. 
Weigel,  John. 
Weirich,  Ezekiel. 
Werb,  John. 
Wiedmayer,  Charles. 
Wiedner,  Gustavus. 
Wiedner,  Ernst. 
Wiedner,  Julius. 
Wiegner,  Michael. 
Wienand,  Rudolf. 
Wille,  William. 
Winninghoff,  Henry. 
Wisner,  Salomon. 
Yount,  John. 
Zimmerman,  John. 
Zimmerman,  Martin. 


374  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "I,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 

Frank  J.  Herron Captain. 

William  H.  Clark First  Lieutenant. 

George  W.  Waldron Second  Lieutenant. 

Samuel  F.  Osborne First  Sergeant. 

Amos  Russell Second  Sergeant. 

Henry  B.  Gifford Third  Sergeant, 

Jeremiah  B.  Howard Fourth  Sergeant, 

Valconlon  J.  Williams First  Corporal. 

Robert  Williams Second  Corporal. 

Edwin  M.  Newcomb Third  Corporal. 

Cyrus  D.  Fletcher Fourth  Corporal. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Baird,  William  R.  Darrah,  Henry  C. 

Bale,  Edward  E.  Dickinson,  Wm.  P. 

Ballou,  George  H.  Duncan,  Nathaniel  E. 

Barren,  Francis.  Eason,  Theodore  G. 

Becket,  Edward.  Edwards,  John  T. 

Bell,  John.  Emily,  Anthony. 

Bennett,  Orson  W.  Fishel,  Robert. 

Beveridge,  James  W.  Germain,  George  C. 

Burro wes,  Thomas.  Germain,  Lewis  J. 

Carberry,  Francis  H.  Gift,  John  W. 

Casnet,  Joseph.  Gould,  Charles. 

Clark,  Charles  N.  Greaves,  David. 

Collins,  James.  Green,  David  B. 

Collins,  Stephen  P.  Gregory,  Camma. 

Conger,  Hiram  M.  Gunn,  William  H. 

Cunningham,  Win.  H.  Heath,  George  W. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


375 


Hill,  Alexander  J. 
Houghton,  Edward  F. 
Johnson,  Henry  Clay. 
Johnston,  John  H. 
Kelley,  Henry  S. 
Kelly,  William. 
Lally,  Shepherd  C. 
Leary,  John. 
Lorimier,  William  H. 
McDonald,  Andrew  Y. 
McDonough,  James. 
McHenry,  Joseph  H. 
McKinlay,  Robert  M. 
Martin,  John  L. 
Mat  his,  William  R. 
Mattis,  Silas  W. 
Miller.  Michael. 
Milton,  Edward  S. 
Minchrath,  Hubbard. 
Mobley,  William  H. 
Moreing,  Christopher  W. 
Moreing,  Lcvi  J. 
Morgan,  James  B. 
Morse,  Charles  R. 
Munroe,  Augustus. 
Northrup,  Henry  H. 

Total  in  Company,  94. 


O'Grady,  James. 
Parris,  Edward  K. 
Pierce,  George  S. 
Poole,  Horace. 
Quigley,  Elijah  B. 
Redmond,  Charles  P. 
Reed,  Charles  A. 
Rittenhouse,  Adanaram  J. 
Smith,  Charles  M. 
Smith,  Samuel. 
Spear,  Loyd  E. 
Spottswood,  Thompson  A. 
Stratzel,  John. 
Taylor,  John  W.,  Jr. 
Thompson,  Frye  W. 
Tisdale,  Edgar. 
Turner,  John. 
Wall,  Francis  M. 
Wall,  James  J. 
Webb,  Lawrence. 
Weigel,  Charles  J. 
West  lake,  George. 
Williams,  James. 
Wright,  Melville  C. 
Zublin,  Ralph  D. 


376  THE  LYON  CAMPAIGN. 


ROSTER  OF  CO.  "K,"  FIRST  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


Thomas  Z.  Cook Captain. 

John  C.  Marvin First  Lieutenant. 

George  W.  Stinson Second  Lieutenant. 

John  H.  Stibbs First  Sergeant. 

Isaiah  Van  Metre Second  Sergeant. 

Edward  Coulter Third  Sergeant. 

Benjamin  F.  Whisler, Fourth  Sergeant. 

Robert  L.  Wilson First  Corporal. 

John  H.  Hamon Second  Corporal. 

Emanuel  B.  Carpenter Third  Corporal. 

Joseph  McClelland Fourth  Corporal. 

Waldo  B.  Pixley Musician. 

Benjamin  E.  Eberhart Musician. 

PRIVATE  SOLDIERS. 

Agler,  John.  Conley,  William  J. 

Angell,  George  H.  Cook,  Benjamin  F. 

Aylsworth,  George  W.  Coverston,  Henry  C. 

Bates,  Hiram  C.  Daniels,  John  E. 

Blood,  Alvaro  C.  Daniels,  Joseph  B. 

Boyes,  Harrison  H.  Daniels,  Samuel. 

Burmister,  George  C.  Davis,  Addison. 

Butler,  Benjamin  E.  Deery,  John  J. 

Calder,  Edward.  Dewey,  Robert  P. 

Carpenter,  Paul.  Eckles,  William  G. 

Chase,  John  M.  Ervin,  Stewart. 

Churchill,  Almond  J.  Esgate,  Charles  W. 

Clark,  John  M.  Fellows,  Edward  P. 

Collier,  Alfred  D.  Ferguson,  Jason  D. 


ROSTER  OF  FIRST  IOWA   INFANTRY. 


377 


Fisher,  John  B. 
Fitzgerald,  John  H. 
Geddes,  Andrew. 
Granger,  George. 
Hale,  Hid. 
Hamon,  Andrew. 
Hanger,  Peter. 
Hayes,  James  C. 
Hazzlett,  Richard  W. 
Holingrain,  Augustus. 
Hollan,  Joseph. 
Hoyt,  Perry. 
Hubbart,  William  D. 
Jacobs,  William  B. 
John,  George  A. 
Johnson,  Nathaniel. 
Klump,  Franklin. 
Little,  James  H. 
McGowen,  John. 
McKee,  Edwin  R. 
McManas,  Hiram  J. 
Mentz,  Michael. 
Miller,  George  C. 
Morhead,  James  C. 
Murdock,  Philip. 
Prescott,  Barnet  WT. 
Rifenstahl,  George. 
Rigbey,  Allan  T. 

Total  in  Company,  97. 


Robins,  William  D. 
Robinson,  John  W. 
Rogers,  Robert  W. 
Ross,  Henry  W. 
Russell,  Nelson. 
Schoonover,  Geo.  F. 
Secrest,  James  M. 
Shafer,  William  H. 
Sherry,  Franklin  J. 
Smith,  Christopher  C. 
Smith,  Joseph  W. 
Soper,  Erastus  B. 
Starkweather,  John  S. 
Steven,  Charles. 
Stewart,  Edward  W. 
Stewart,  Robert  B. 
Stewart,  James  0. 
Stine,  John  B. 
Stinson,  Robert. 
Taylor,  Martin  T. 
Thompson,  Edward. 
Vanarsdel,  John  N. 
Vanderver,  George  F. 
Wilson,  David  H. 
Winterstien,  Lewis  P. 
Wynn,  Cyrus. 
Yager,  George  H. 
Zeigenfus,  Lewis  J.  P. 


M126064 


1st- 


131' 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


